


The Two Halves Who Long To Be Whole

by FanficWriter827



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: After a Certain Point, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Holding Hands, Mutual Pining, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-27
Updated: 2020-11-27
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:01:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 22,402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26146033
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FanficWriter827/pseuds/FanficWriter827
Summary: Roxas and Xion are two individuals who are more or less defined by each other. For better or worse they are codependent on each other. Their friendship is mostly defined by the two of them just wanting to be together, despite what their lives entail. They are the most important person in each other’s lives and act as an emotional pillar for one another. Remove one and the other crumbles.
Relationships: Roxas/Xion (Kingdom Hearts)
Kudos: 13





	1. Our First Days

**Author's Note:**

> So this is a longfic that I've been planning for a long while now. This story is mostly going to be a what if? scenario where some exploration will be done about mostly Roxas and Xion regarding their relationship. Alongside some introspection from Lea. It will be a partial exploration about guilt, moving forward from the past, and how the people close to you make you stronger.
> 
> The overall theme that I intend to base the story around is how much Roxas and Xion matter to each other. While it will have romantic themes, it won't be all lovey dovey so to speak. It's more so about how they complement each other, help/protect each other, and of course act as each other's emotional pillar.
> 
> This story will at first be a slight retelling of Days and the intro to 2. After that there will be a chapter or two of Sora sort of experiencing Roxas's emotions (throughout KH2 and DDD) very briefly before we move on to the big part.

“You gotta figure, everything starts someplace. The closest thing for me is when I was just seven days old, and I met her.”

Everything was a blur for Roxas during those first few days. His earliest memory that he could recall was him standing in front of a tall and powerfully built man whose body was hidden in a black coat. With a wave of his hand, the man conjured up some letters and swirled them around Roxas before forcibly stopping them with the insertion of a large “X.”

“Ah yes, Number XIII. Roxas. That is who you are.” 

Admittedly Roxas did not know whether it was his name, but it sounded right to him. He had a moment to take it in, and he repeated the name back, feeling how it was said. With another wave of his hand, the other man smiled and called forth a swirling black opening of some kind. 

Before he beckoned the newly named Roxas through, the tall man gently gripped Roxas’s left arm and waved his hand over Roxas’s hand. When he could retract it, the confused boy looked at his hand as it now bore an “X” on it.

“That is to show you that you are one of us now. A part of Organization XIII.” the other man said.

The second earliest memory he can recall was when he was first introduced to the group known as Organization XIII. All he knew was that he was the thirteenth member to be inducted into this group, and he was introduced to the group in a large room with thirteen chairs facing inwards towards a center bearing a symbol of some kind. After he was introduced, he was hoisted into an empty chair, and he felt it shoot up as it began to ascend to where the others were.

In time Roxas would learn each member’s names, but there was one member who stood out to him immediately, a tall red-haired man named Axel. Axel, for whatever reason, had been watching over him, and Roxas liked the other man's presence (as much as he could like something as he was) However, there was another member who captured his attention from the moment he met her.

The third earliest memory (and the most important) that he could recall was when he met a girl named Xion. It was the seventh day of his existence, and he found himself back in that white chamber. Except now, he was occupying the empty chair when he was being introduced, looking down on yet another new member.

This newcomer was a girl named Xion, and he found himself curiously staring at her. From what he could immediately tell, she looked like she was about his height, and she looked tiny. He couldn’t tell much else about her as she had her hood up. He had to wonder as to whether she was like him and couldn’t recall anything about her past. Another thought he had was about where she would potentially sit.  _ Am I going to share my seat with her?  _ He wondered to himself.

To his surprise, she turned as if she had heard his thoughts, and she was looking at him. Even more curious was that she seemed to be moving her lips into an upward arch. From what he briefly learned about emotions and expressions, this was called a smile. Roxas didn’t know what to make of the gesture, but he heard that it’s done when someone is happy.  _ Why is she happy to see me? _

The following day, he was formally doing missions for the Organization, gathering hearts by slaying the heartless. From what he could muster, nobodies like himself and the rest of his coworkers are trying to collect hearts to make something called Kingdom Hearts. His mission was with the man named Axel that he liked. 

Before he left, he found that Xion was staring at him. It unnerved him a little as she seemed to be intently staring at him, and he couldn’t figure out why. The only thing he could do was stare back until Axel began to pull at his shoulder, guiding him towards what he now knows is called a dark corridor. 

“Xion.” Roxas found himself mindlessly uttering, and to his surprise, she smiled at him again. For some reason, it sends a little jolt through him to see that gesture. Axel pulled him through the corridor, and that was when he began to learn why he was brought into the Organization. 

According to Axel, Roxas could wield a weapon known as the Keyblade. This Keyblade has the power to release and gather the hearts that are revealed whenever the heartless are slain. 

When the mission was done, Axel gestured for Roxas to follow him, and he followed the other man. 

“I think you earned “the icing on the cake” today.”

“Cake?” Roxas asked, but Axel continued to walk as he brought him up to the top of the clock tower that he had seen during his mission. Looking over the town, he had to admit that it was a nice view of the town. Axel gestured for him to sit, and when Roxas did, the other man handed him a small object that was cold to the touch.

“Do you remember what this is called?” Axel asked, waving a light blue bar on a wooden stick in Roxas’s face. In response, Roxas shook his head.

“Come on, get it memorized. This is called ‘Sea-Salt Ice Cream.’ It's pretty tasty.”

“Sea-Salt Ice Cream” Roxas sounded out each word, trying to commit it to memory.

“There you go.” Axel smiled, and the two began to eat their ice cream.

“It’s salty... but sweet.” Roxas smiled as he finished his ice cream.

The two continued to sit and talk for a little while before they went back to the castle. That night, Roxas was left to his thoughts as he thought about Axel and Xion. He likes Axel; he seems to be willing to answer any questions that he may have. The only thing that he can’t figure out is why Xion is so fixated on him.

///

Xion didn’t know a whole lot about herself. The only thing she knows is that the man with long grey hair had brought her to this place. It felt odd to be brought before all of these total strangers, and while the one that she learned was named Xemnas spoke, she looked around at her fellow nobodies. They all looked very different from each other, and each seemed to differ in their reactions to her. Some looked disinterested, and others regarded her curiously, one person in particular though caught her attention. 

On the lowest chair, there was a boy who looked similar to her in terms of stature. She immediately noted that he had brown hair and wasn’t as fierce as the others. He seemed to show the most interest in her, and she found herself replicating the movement with her mouth at him like how the grey-haired man had done towards her when they first met.

During her first missions with the grey-haired man (that she now knows is named Vexen), he seemed to be displeased with her as she wasn’t using something called a “Keyblade” She was using magic to destroy the heartless and he did an odd thing where he scrunched his nose. During her free time, she found herself staring at Roxas as she couldn’t help but wonder if he was like her.  _ Does he also have an “X” on one of his hands like mine?  _ He seemed to shrink away under her gaze, and she would stop staring at him afterward.

_ I want to talk to him, but I can’t think of what to say. _ Xion doesn’t speak on her missions with Vexen; the other man seems to be content to talk about all sorts of things called research. It doesn’t make a lot of sense to her, so she doesn’t bother listening to him. She hopes that she can be on a mission with Roxas soon.

Two weeks later, she was paired up with Roxas on a mission. Even now, when they were together, she found herself just staring at him. From what she could gather, intense staring was a way to show interest in someone or something, so she wondered why he couldn’t pick up on her intent. However, on the second mission that they went on together, she finally found the confidence to say something to the other boy.

“Roxas, that’s your name, isn’t it?” From what she can recall, those were the first words that she had ever said to him. She promptly left afterward, but she felt happy that she could finally speak to him. It felt nice to feel something akin to happiness (even if she has no memories of what being happy even is)

The next day she saw him, he had a big grin on his face, and she found that perhaps when they were on their mission today, she’d show him her appearance. When they stepped through the corridor and were in Twilight Town, she took a moment to reach up and pull down her hood. From the look on his face, he seemed surprised, and she was unsure whether that was a good thing or a bad thing. However, Roxas seemed to be smiling, so he must like how she looks.

“Let’s do our best today, Roxas.” he silently nodded, and he led the way as they were looking for something called a Darkside. It didn’t take long for them to find it as it was a massive heartless. Xion did her best to back him up with magic, though she wanted to wield a Keyblade like him. 

The fight was going well up until the Darkside punched Roxas and sent him flying. She found herself feeling something different as she felt something at seeing the other boy get hurt. His Keyblade was by her side, and she was about to hand it to him when it suddenly vanished and then reappeared in her hand. 

Not wanting to waste any time, she instinctively began to swing the Keyblade like how she saw Roxas swing his Keyblade. In a few strokes, she managed to cut down the heartless that hurt Roxas, and she was helping him to his feet.

“Wow, that was incredible, Xion. You do know how to use the Keyblade.” Roxas had a big smile on his face, and she found herself smiling with him.

“Honestly, I don’t even know what happened. I touched your Keyblade, and suddenly I felt like I always knew how to use one. Can you still summon yours?” 

Roxas held out his hand, and he called forth his Keyblade, and she noticed that they could both wield one now. She watched Roxas think to himself before he gestured to follow him.

“Where are we going, don’t we need to R.T.C.?” Xion asked

“I think you earned “the icing on the cake” today, come on,” Roxas told her, and Xion followed him as he went to a stall, and he purchased two things that she didn’t recognize. He then asked her to follow him to the clock tower, and so she did. When she found a nice spot to sit down, right next to Roxas, he began to unwrap the things that he bought.

“This is called Sea-Salt Ice Cream.” Roxas handed her a small light blue bar on a wooden stick.

“I thought we were having something called cake?” Xion was confused.

Roxas shrugged, “It’s an expression that Axel likes to say.”

“Axel?” She tried to remember which member that was.

“He’s my friend, the tall red-headed guy. He showed me this place one day, and before he left to go to Castle Oblivion, we would come here after our missions, and we would just talk about all sorts of stuff.”

“Friend,” Xion said the word, and she liked how it sounded. “do you think I can be a friend Roxas?”

“That sounds good to me. When Axel gets back from his long mission, the three of us will have ice cream together.” Roxas declared, and she liked the idea of that. While she didn’t get to go on any missions with the red-haired man, she knew that he was with Roxas for a few days. If he was Roxas’s friend, then perhaps he’ll be her friend as well.

“Yeah, friends.” Xion smiled, and she relaxed as she began to eat her ice cream, “It’s sweet...yet salty.” When they finished, she noticed that Roxas looked at his stick and smiled.

“Mine says, ‘Winner.’ Axel says that you can exchange it at the ice cream shop for another ice cream when you get a winner stick.” Xion smiled as she and Roxas continued to talk. 

“Do you know anything about your past?” Xion asked

He shook his head, “No. Everything is blank to me; I’ve been keeping track of how many days I can recall. Right now, this is day 25.”

“As far as I know, this is day 18 for me-” She smiled before adding, “-and this is day 1 of us being friends.”

“That sounds good to me.” he paused for a moment, looking at her curiously, “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

She noticed that he paused for a moment, trying to think of what to say. “Why were you staring at me like that when we first met?”

Xion had to think for a few seconds before answering, “I don’t know, something just drew me to you, and I didn’t know what to say. Sorry if I freaked you out like that.” She didn’t want to drive him away when they had just become friends.

“It’s fine. It’s good to meet someone else like me. I feel like we’re the only two nobodies who don’t remember their pasts at all.”

Xion giggled, “Maybe it just means that we’re meant to be good friends.” For a brief moment, she considered showing him the brand on the back of her hand but decided not to.

They continued to talk until Roxas decided that they needed to get back to the castle. Xion happily followed him back, and she was surprised as her fellow members began to look at her with newfound interest.  _ Perhaps they were waiting for me to pull down my hood. _

Later that night, she went to sleep with happy thoughts about the day and how she can’t wait to go on more missions with Roxas.

///

Roxas awoke the following morning with a smile on his face. “I hope my mission is with Xion today.” After not connecting with his fellow nobodies (aside from Axel), it felt great to find someone that he can earnestly talk to about things.

It surprised him when she took off her hood and showed him how she looks. For some reason, he was expecting her to have red hair, but he found that he likes her black hair. He didn’t know what to expect, but he found himself staring at her as he tried to take in her appearance, and he felt his heart skip a beat. While he found that to be concerning, it didn’t happen again, so he figured that it was just a weird thing that happened.

Even more surprising was that she could wield the Keyblade just like him. He had heard that she supposedly could, but he never saw her do it. From what he saw, she preferred just to use magic (and she was better than him at it), so it came as a pleasant surprise when she picked his weapon and began swinging. At that moment, something told him that he should ask her to be his friend, and he did what Axel did and took her up for some ice cream. 

That moment on the clock tower felt just right to him, and he wondered why she interests him so much, perhaps she’s just like him after all. He can’t wait to show Axel that he made a new friend. His day then took an abrupt turn as he learned what the word ‘terminated’ meant. It made him reel in shock as he never considered the possibility that Axel could just be gone forever. It distracted him during his mission with Xigbar, who didn’t seem all that concerned that half of their fellow nobodies are just gone now.

“Look, kid, I know it’s rough, but that's just how things are for us nobodies. We have a rough existence, we go ‘poof,’ and then we vanish as if we never existed.”

“But Axel is my friend; he can’t be gone.” Roxas also began to consider the possibility that he could be terminated, or that Xion could. The only thing that gave any reprieve from these terrible thoughts was when many different images came flashing through his head. They were of people he had never seen before, and the sight was far too overwhelming for him to take in.

With a grunt of pain, he slumped to the ground and fell unconscious. 

///

Xion sat alone on the clock tower as she waited for Roxas to show up. The ice cream was tasty, but it didn’t distract her as she wondered if Roxas was going to show up today. When she finished her ice cream, she waited for a few more minutes before deciding to return to the castle.

As she greeted everyone, she could see a big commotion, and she found herself listening to the ongoing conversation. The first words she heard were, “So Roxas isn’t waking up?” That led her to race down the castle to where she knew his room was. Sure enough, he was lying on the bed, and he was unmoving but otherwise alright. Although for whatever reason, there seemed to be markings on his face. Admittedly it looked funny, but she was more concerned about how he was feeling.

“Don’t bother.” She turned and saw her superior Saïx, a tall blue-haired man with a distinct “X” scar on his face. He gave her a sort of unpleasant feeling as he coldly regarded her and the sleeping Roxas.

“Will he wake up?” Xion was concerned for her friend. 

To her dismay, Saïx merely shrugged, “Who knows. It doesn’t matter; we still have you to gather hearts for us.”

“Well, we can’t just leave him like this.”

Saïx put up a hand to calm her, “You don’t need to watch over him, the dusks will see to his needs and ensure that he is taken care of.”

Xion looked at her friend’s vandalized face and wasn’t reassured, Saïx saw her discomfort and continued, “You can visit him whenever you finish your mission for the day.” He turned to leave, and Xion was left alone with her new friend.

“Don’t worry, Roxas; I’ll keep you company until you wake up. Then we can have ice cream together again.” 

An odd idea came to Xion as she was curious about whether or not he had a similar mark like hers. While she knew that she shouldn’t mess with her friend like this, she couldn’t help but wonder. She first gently took off the glove on his right hand, and she saw that it was bare. Next, she reached over and gripped his left arm (but not before putting his glove back on) and slid that glove off. To her surprise, he had an “X” like the one that she had.

There was a knowing smile on her face as she put his glove back on. “See, I knew we were meant to be friends. Don’t worry; I’ll take care of you.” There were two prevalent thoughts that she had as she looked at the sleeping Roxas.

One thought was that his hand felt soft and warm to touch. Xion couldn’t explain it, but there was a delightful sensation that she felt when she gently held him like that. It was comforting to her as well as she wasn’t panicking anymore. The second thought was, where exactly was she going to find things that she can use to clean up his face?


	2. You Can Rely On Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, Roxas and Xion grow closer as they go on missions together. This is the part where Xion loses her Keyblade and Roxas helps her get it back. They begin to lean on each other more and more as they begin to experience brand new feelings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know that I'm unfortunately retreading familiar ground before we get to the actual canon divergence. But I hope that you'll still keep reading on and enjoy the story. I am taking some cues from the manga because I consider it the best way to experience the story of Days. In case you haven't noticed, the brands are the Recusant's Sigil. I've changed to being an actual brand as opposed to it being very vague (up to and including clothing that makes an X and names with the letter X in it.)

With nothing else that she could do for the unconscious Roxas, Xion continued to do her missions. One of the things she quickly found was that she liked talking to Roxas the most out of all of them. It wasn’t that she didn’t dislike any of the other members, quite the opposite. While they’re not as friendly as Roxas, they are pleasant enough to be around (even if Saïx always regards her coldly). Xion just doesn’t feel as much of a connection to the others. Regardless, she wants to see Roxas up and moving again.

Ever since she got the ability to use the Keyblade, she found herself just sometimes staring at it with a smile on her face.  _ It’s just like yours, Roxas. Maybe this is another sign that we were supposed to be good friends. _ At first, she mimicked how Roxas swung his Keyblade, but she started to develop her own style within a day. From what she noticed, Roxas favors more decisive blows, primarily preferring his right hand. Xion, in turn, liked quicker strikes mixed in with magic while also favoring her left hand.

She was still at a loss for what to do to show Roxas that she was visiting him. It did disturb her a little about how little concern the others seemed to show about Roxas’s condition. Thankfully she didn’t need to feed Roxas; the Dusks did that. They did an odd thing where one would hold his mouth open while another would make wavy motions with the fork while making weird hissing noises. 

Every day though, she would bring that bucket up and thoroughly clean his face up as they would invariably doodle on his face. While she sat with him and told him about her day, she wondered what she could bring him. It wasn’t until she went on a mission to a seemingly mundane world that inspiration came to her.

“Out of all the places that I can do recon at, this is one of the best.” Xion smiled as she walked along the beach at Destiny Islands. In all honesty, she had no clue why Saïx would even send her on a mission to this world. There weren’t any Heartless to fight, nor was there anything that looked remotely significant in gathering hearts. Either way, she wasn’t complaining in the slightest; it was so pleasant here on Destiny Islands.

In the distance, Xion saw an oddly shaped object, and she picked it up. It was bright, pretty, and looked colorful. On a hunch, she decided to hold it up to her ear, and she heard what sounded like the waves from the nearby ocean. She closed her eyes and smiled, an odd sense of nostalgia washed over her as she listened to the shell.  _ I wish you were here Roxas, this place feels lovely. Wait, I know what I can give you now! _

Opening her eyes, Xion quickly surveyed the surrounding area and saw more objects like the one she was holding. They varied in shape, size, and color, and Xion knew what she had to do. A name came to her for what these were, seashells. 

Xion thought that maybe it was a memory from her former life; it didn’t matter either way. She didn’t know when she could come back to this world, so she wanted to make the most of this opportunity. Making her way to the nearest clutter of the seashells, she got on her knees and began to scoop up the shells and stuff them in her coat pockets.

Satisfied with the number of seashells that she gathered, Xion was preparing to R.T.C. when she noticed a small inlet tree. For some reason, she felt compelled to go to the tree. Sitting on the tree, she felt like how she feels whenever she sits on the clock tower. 

Taking a seashell out of her coat, she held it up to her ear again and smiled as she imagined the waves crashing against the shore. After a few minutes, Xion got up, dusted off her clothes, and made her way back to the dark corridor.

When she visited the sleeping Roxas, the dusks once again doodled on his face. She began to count how many days it had been since Roxas passed out while she set the bucket and rag on the side.

“I’m back, Roxas. I went to a new world today. It was so nice, and I hope we can go together when you wake up.” Another habit that she had picked up when she visited Roxas was that she liked to hold his hand for a minute. She finds it comforting and her way of trying to let Roxas know that she’s here for him. To her delight, he would close his hand around hers when she did that. He always feels so warm to her. 

Shaking his hand off, she set down four seashells on his nightstand and got to work on cleaning his face. To her dismay, she found that the ink wasn’t coming off in the slightest. “Permanent ink!” she hissed as she imagined that the dusks were laughing at her misfortune. She wouldn’t be deterred by this new obstacle though and pressed harder, whispering an apology to the sleeping Roxas if she hurt him.

After several tedious minutes, his face was as clean as can be. Still unsure whether she hurt him, she gripped his hand again and cast a cure spell on him. Sitting back on a nearby chair, she still held his hand as she caught her breath. A wild idea came to her as she thought to herself.  _ What harm would it do if I stayed by his side all night? _

While it may be uncomfortable to sleep upright on a chair, Xion didn’t have anything better to do, and she didn’t see anything wrong with it. After all, if Roxas were to wake up in the morning, she could be there to greet him and tell him about anything that he wanted to know.

Surprisingly, she found it easy to fall asleep next to him, and she drifted off with thoughts of that lovely island in her mind. She hopes that she and Roxas could visit it one day.

Her pleasant slumber was rudely interrupted as she felt something drop into her lap. Opening her eyes, she looked up and saw Saïx (who looked grumpier than usual).

“You didn’t file your report yesterday.” he flatly told her. Saïx looked at her and how she was still holding hands with Roxas, and he scoffed. “I don’t know why you even bother. Nothing you do will change his condition, and there are more important things to do.”

Xion started, “But I-” however, Saïx cut her off,

“Clean yourself up, write your report, and get ready for your mission. You’re already behind schedule as it is.” Saïx’s gaze bore into her, and she meekly nodded, hurrying off.

_ Why is he so mean? I just want to make sure that he’s ok. _

///

Roxas had no clue what he was seeing. He saw a boy in red as he did all sorts of things and met all kinds of people. None of it made any sense to him, and for some reason, he didn’t know the boy’s name. Sometimes though, he would see a girl who reminds him of Xion, and sometimes he would even see her for a brief moment.

Other times he would dream of Xion and Axel, having ice cream with the three of them on the clock tower. Roxas couldn’t remember what he had been doing before he fell asleep, and it bothered him as he continued to dream. But the boy in red seemed to take the most precedence in his dreams. It made him wonder about the significance of these dreams.

Roxas’s eyes snapped open, and he attempted to sit up. His body felt incredibly heavy and it was a massive effort just to sit up. Despite his struggle, Roxas was able to sit up, and he looked around. 

There were three immediate observations that he made; one was that he was back in his room. That there were some odd-looking (but pretty) things on his night dresser. And that he was incredibly hungry and desperately needed something to eat.

When he had finished eating, he noticed the sign that was put up when he was last awake and he frowned, remembering the last thing going through his mind before those images assailed him.  _ “All members sent to Castle Oblivion have been terminated, investigation results pending.” _

Roxas remembered what the word terminated meant, and he felt ill about it. It just didn’t make sense to him that Axel could be gone just like that. However, he still had a mission to do, and he could think about it while he was fighting heartless. 

He went through the motions, fighting Heartless while trying to stave off those terrible thoughts. Axel was his first friend, and he hadn’t known him for that long. He doesn’t want to lose friends when he can’t even remember having any; at least Xion is his friend. But what if Xion could be terminated? Roxas didn’t like thinking about any of these things so he did his best to put those thoughts away. Thankfully he would be done with his mission soon, and he could have some ice cream.

When he arrived at the clock tower, he began to eat his ice cream when he heard a familiar voice. He smiled when he recognized that it was Xion, and he waved at her.

“You’re finally awake, Roxas. What happened to you?”

He shrugged, “I don’t know. I was in Agrabah, and then suddenly, I felt this sharp pain in the back of my head, and then I was out cold. How long have I been out for?”

Xion thought for a moment before answering, “About three weeks.”

Roxas was shocked, “Really?!? I guess that’s why I was so hungry when I woke up.”

Xion smiled, and it made him feel warm, “I’m glad that you’re awake, I visited you every day, and you wouldn’t budge.”

It then dawned on Roxas where those things came from, “Did you bring me those colorful things?”

She giggled, “Yep, they’re called seashells. I went to this place called Destiny Islands on one of my missions, and it was such a beautiful place. I wish you could’ve been there with me. I brought a whole bunch, and I’ve been leaving you one for each day you were still asleep.” Xion held another one out to him, and he took it from her.

He wasn’t sure what to make of that but, he liked that she was concerned about him. Xion and Axel seem to be the only people worried about him beyond his ability to swing the Keyblade around.

“If you hold it up to your ear, you can hear the ocean.” 

Roxas brought it up to his ear, and while he couldn’t hear any water, he felt a familiar sensation wash over him as an image of an island flash in his mind. Even stranger was that for a brief moment, he saw a girl who looked just like Xion. He couldn’t hear any waves, though and he shrugged at the expectant Xion.

“Sorry, maybe it’s just the wind.” Xion frowned at that, but they otherwise went on, talking about their day. It felt nice to Roxas that he could briefly forget about the possibility that Axel is gone.

///

Axel stretched out his arms and worked out the aches in his back and shoulders as he prepared to leave Castle Oblivion. Despite his best efforts at holding back, Sora nearly destroyed him. “No wonder why Xemnas is so interested in the kid. I got to hand it to Marly, pretty clever of him to use Namin é as bait to provoke Sora into trying to kill me. But what’s done is done.”

There were no more loose ends to take care of here. The traitors, Marluxia and Larxene, were destroyed (ironically not by his hand). All of the others had been dealt with accordingly. He didn’t have anything personal against the others. Zexion and Lexaeus were decent enough to be around, and while Vexen could be irritating, he didn’t actively antagonize anyone. 

But Saïx needs to advance in the Organization’s ranks, and Axel doesn’t want to disappoint the blue-haired lunatic. So anyone above Saïx in rank had to suffer an unfortunate accident, at least that Riku kid had the courtesy to eliminate Lexaeus for him.

He also had to ensure that the Riku Replica was gone; he doesn’t want any witnesses to blab his actions. Admittedly he did feel bad about the replica; it more or less went through the same thing that all nobodies go through, only more extreme. However, Axel doesn’t have the time to babysit yet another child. He already had one zombie to look after. 

The Replica Program. From the notes that Vexen had, there was another one, not just the Riku Replica. He had no clue as to where it could be, though. It gave him a headache to consider the possibility that there was an unknown loose end, but there’s nothing he can do about it for now. 

Axel is at least looking forward to having some more ice cream with the kid again. He had to admit; he missed those little chats they had on the clock tower. It felt good to talk to someone who was earnest about their intentions and wasn’t just scheming behind his back.

With a flick of his wrist, he summoned a dark corridor and stepped through. Twilight Town was just like how he remembered it; he didn’t feel the need to go back yet. _ Saïx can wait, I think I’ve earned myself a little icing on the cake. _ Before he could get some ice cream, Heartless appeared around him. 

He sighed, “Go figure, I try to do something for myself, and fate decides to punish me for it. Whatever let’s get this over with.” he summoned his weapons and made short work of the creatures before he decided to track the area they were coming from, and to his surprise, he saw Roxas.

“Yo, look alive, Roxas, the heartless are everywhere!” he destroyed a Heartless with his chakram that had veered too dangerously close to Roxas.

The other boy turned and looked at him with utter astonishment in his eyes, and Axel found it funny. But that could wait; there were still some pests that needed to be wiped out.

When that was done, Roxas slowly walked up to Axel and, to his amusement, tapped him on the arm. “What was that for?” Axel laughed, and Roxas smiled widely.

“The Dusks said that everyone at Castle Oblivion had been terminated, I thought you were gone too.”

Axel laughed again, “Those Dusks never get anything right. Now come on, you can tell me about the last few weeks over some ice cream.” Roxas happily followed him, and it made Axel smile;  _ he’s like a little puppy. _

“So while you were gone, I became friends with Xion, she’s nice.”   
Axel’s mind blanked on who that was, “No. XIV, right?” Roxas nodded, and Axel smiled; _ at least the kid made a friend without me. Plus, he doesn’t seem to be a zombie anymore, so that’s good. _

“I invited her up for ice cream, and I told her that the three of us could have ice cream together when you get back.” Roxas excitedly said.

“So you just meet a girl and suddenly invite her out for some ice cream? I didn’t know you had it in you.” Axel smirked, and Roxas gave him a blank stare.

“Had what in me? Did I do something wrong?” Axel had to suppress a laugh; he was going to have fun with this. 

Axel shook his head, “No, it’s just a saying. Got it memorized? Sure we can have ice cream together.” Admittedly he was curious about the new girl and how she had become friends with Roxas. He only hoped that he didn’t have to babysit her as well.

They waited and waited for Xion to show up, and Axel could see poor Roxas’s expression slowly change as it dawned on him that Xion wasn’t going to show up at the clock tower today.

“I guess she’s not coming.” Roxas dejectedly said, and Axel patted him on the back.

“Relax, there’s always tomorrow. Besides, sometimes people need some time alone, Nobodies are no different there.”

“Okay.” Roxas flatly said, and they left to go back to the castle.

After Axel had submitted his report and was laying down in bed, Saïx suddenly entered his room.

“Why didn’t you report to me immediately when you came back?”

“Well, hello to you too. I’m glad to see that you’re so concerned about me.” Axel sarcastically quipped, Saïx didn’t give him a response.  _ He rarely rises to the bait. It’s part of his charm. _

“I just got back, and you’re already hounding me?” 

“You had plenty of time to go get yourself some ice cream.” Axel suspected there was another accusation that Saïx wasn’t saying, but he decided not to press him on it.

“They’re all gone, just like you wanted.” Axel’s tone became deadly serious.

Saïx gave him a small nod, “And for that, I thank you. You have my gratitude.” he paused before adding, “I’m glad to see that you escaped being destroyed, I knew those Dusks were idiots.”

Axel merely nodded, and Saïx faded away, as silently as he had arrived.

Axel’s thoughts about Saïx faded away as he thought about the new girl, Xion. He didn’t get much of a chance to speak to her. For some reason, Vexen was the one in charge of overseeing her first days in the Organization, and the scientist was always fussy in letting other people in on his operations. It didn’t matter to Axel though, he’d meet this mysterious girl soon enough and find out what made Roxas so fascinated about her. 

_ She can wield a Keyblade like Roxas. I feel bad for her already, that means Saïx will focus on her in regards to missions. Also, go figure, the first girl the boy meets and he goes gaga for her. _

///

Xion was panicking. She couldn’t summon the Keyblade anymore. Ever since Roxas had woken up, she lost her ability to summon the Keyblade. If she can’t collect hearts, then she’s useless. Saïx already looked for excuses to belittle her as is, calling her a puppet for some reason. If he were to find out about this new mishap, she didn’t want to dwell on that possibility. She can only hope that she can somehow collect hearts without the Keyblade.

As much as she wants to run to Roxas for help, she doesn’t want to bother him. He already has enough to deal with catching up for the three weeks he was out, and she didn’t want to burden him with her problems. There was also a sinking feeling in her stomach as she watched Saïx one day openly berate Roxas for slacking on heart collection.

_ He’s in trouble because of me! If I weren’t so useless, then he wouldn’t be in trouble. What if he hates me because of my incompetence? _

She can get herself out of this problem; she just needs to think of something. After all, the ability to use Keyblade came to her suddenly out of nowhere and went away in the same manner. She just only hopes that she can figure out a solution before Saïx figures out the truth and uses it as an excuse to get rid of her. 

She slumped against a nearby wall and curled up into a ball, a position that she has found herself doing a lot recently. “I’m hopeless.” She’s tired from having to only rely on magic, and she’s not sure of how much longer she can keep it up. The one time she tried seeking Roxas out, he was nowhere to be seen in his room. It confirmed her belief that she shouldn’t be bothering him.

It all came to a head when she was sent to Twilight Town to deal with a giant heartless surfaced. It was a large-lizard like heartless and it was relentless; her magic was borderline useless against this creature, but she couldn’t give up.

She brought her hands together and began to charge a massive fire spell, and with a mighty shout, she let loose. The explosion was enormous, and it hurt her ears slightly, but she saw the Heartless stagger back. It wasn’t destroyed, but it was hurt and mad. Unfortunately for her, her little explosion cost her dearly in terms of her vitality.

To her relief, she heard a voice in the distance, and it was Roxas. While she wasn’t sure if she was ready to see Roxas, she was grateful for his help. But unfortunately, her little distraction cost her as she was slammed by the creature’s tongue and knocked flat to the ground.

Another voice called out to Roxas, and she saw that she was looking at a man with fiery red hair. As much as she wanted to stand up and fight, the other man gently pushed her back down, urging her to rest up. From what she could see, Roxas attacked the heartless with a ferocity that she hasn’t seen before from him. She didn’t even know that he could get that mad.

To her surprise, Roxas’s body began to glow in a resplendent aura as she saw blinding light begin to hurt the Heartless. She watched in awe as he fought. _ If only I were as skilled as you, Roxas. _

When the Heartless dissipated, Roxas was suddenly in front of her, and she could see the concern on his face. While she was happy to see him, she doesn’t like making him worry like that. It felt strange, but she couldn’t explain why she was concerned about how he feels about her. 

///

Roxas extended his hand, and he smiled as Xion gripped it, and he hauled her back up onto her feet.  _ Her hand feels oddly soft and familiar, for that matter.  _ Roxas shoved off that thought, though as he was more concerned about Xion and why she had seemingly disappeared for so many days. 

When they were situated at the clock tower, he introduced Axel to Xion (the other man oddly scrutinizing her for whatever reason.) When he noticed that she wasn’t eating her ice cream, he became worried again. Xion sighed and then began to explain her absence for the past few days. There was an aching sensation that he felt in his chest, and it upset him that she had been in trouble for so long, and he didn’t realize it.

Xion began to breathe heavily, “If I can’t use the Keyblade, Saïx will turn me into a dusk. I don’t know what to do!”

Roxas knew he had to say something, but he didn’t know what to say. Thankfully, Axel came up with a great idea.

“Why don’t the two of you go on missions together for a little bit. If you two can just collect a good amount of hearts, Saïx will leave you two alone. I know you’ll be doing most of the heavy lifting Roxas, but it’ll be until Xion can figure out how to resummon the Keyblade.”

“Do you think Saïx would agree to something like that?” Roxas expectantly asked.

Axel smirked, “He will if I ask him to. Leave it to me; I know how to charm Mr. Sunshine.”

“You’d do that for me, Axel?” Xion asked.

He shrugged, “Of course, that’s what friends are for.”

Later that night, Roxas found himself at Xion’s door. While he knew that he should let her get ready for bed, he wanted to see her for some reason. Hesitantly knocking, Roxas waited until he heard her, and he entered. Xion looked surprised to see him, but she smiled and waved him over.

“I was just checking to see if you were okay from earlier.”

“Yep, I forgot to mention it but, thanks for the save.” Xion giggled

“Axel and I were lucky enough to see that big explosion from the Clock Tower. That must’ve been powerful.”

Xion nodded and sighed, “Not strong enough to defeat that heartless.”

Roxas shook his head, “Far better than what I can do. Is it alright if I ask you something?”

She nodded, and he took a deep breath as he thought about what he was going to say, “Why didn’t you ask me for help sooner?”

Xion looked away, and she mumbled. He asked her to repeat herself and Xion did, “I thought that you would be annoyed if I did.”

“Why would you think that?” Roxas was concerned.

“I saw you being berated by Saïx for not collecting enough hearts. It’s my fault that he’s mad at you and I know from experience that’s he mean-”

“I don’t care what that jerk says.” Roxas interrupted, “Collect more hearts, make Kingdom Hearts, and I’m a big X-faced jerk.” Roxas said in a mocking tone, “I’m just more concerned about you.” He didn’t know where that came from or why his face felt hot, but it felt right. 

“Besides, it’s like Axel said, friends are supposed to help each other out. You’re my friend, and I want to help you out. It doesn’t seem that complicated to me.”

Xion let out a sigh of relief, “Thank you, Roxas. I just hope that I don’t throw too much extra work on you.”

Roxas hesitantly laid a hand on her shoulder, “I’m sure we’ll make a good team.”

An odd question came to Roxas, and he figured that now was as good a time as any to ask it. “Do you have a weird marking on your hand?”

“Yes. I’ve seen yours already when you were unconscious. Don’t be mad, but I took a quick peek at it.” She sheepishly smiled at him as she took off her glove to show off her brand.

Roxas took off his glove, and he showed her the “X” on his hand. “What do you think it means?”

Xion shrugged, “I don’t know, do you think the others have one?”

Roxas thought about where Axel’s might be, and he briefly wondered if Saïx’s brand was the X on his face. “If they do have one, I don’t think they’re matching like ours.”

On a hunch, Roxas slipped his hand into hers, and his breath got slightly caught in his throat. From what he saw, Xion’s eyes widened from the touch. Why did this feel so intense? Their hands quickly flew away from each other. Shaking off his surprise, Roxas cleared his throat, standing up so that he could leave.

“Just remember that you can talk to me whenever you feel down,” Roxas reassured her, and Xion giggled.

“Ok, but only if I get to worry about you as well.” her smile gave him a warm feeling in his chest.

Roxas laughed, “Sure thing, partner. See you tomorrow.” Xion nodded, and he hurried away back to his room.

\\\\\\\

“Why should I let you do this?” Saïx’s stare bore into the pair as Roxas put forward what Axel had suggested.

“An opportunity like this will be good for us. It will help us improve our...our motivation!” Roxas was relieved that he remembered that word. Big words like that would probably help him convince Saïx.

Saïx continued to stare, his expression unchanging.

“I say we let them. Who knows, maybe they can learn from each other by going together on missions.” Axel chimed in, and Roxas nearly let out a sigh of relief as he noticed that Saïx’s expression changed ever slightly.

“They seem to know enough already about collecting hearts. Why should I keep these two together when their talents are better suited to working alone?”

Axel sighed, “I’m saying that it’s worth a shot. Come on, do me a solid, would you?”

At that, Roxas could have sworn that he saw Saïx’s mouth twitch irritably, but he then gave a small smile (a gesture that unsettled Roxas) “Fine. But I better see some significant results or this arrangement will be over, understood?”

Both Roxas and Xion nodded as Saïx created a dark corridor and then turned to them again. “You are to go to the Beast’s Castle and gather intelligence while also gathering hearts. Don’t keep me waiting; I expect to see some results.”

After they both went through the corridor and were alone, Roxas and Xion let out a pent up breath, and they relaxed. 

“Thank goodness Axel could smooth things over like that,” Xion said, and Roxas had to agree.

“If you want, you can stay behind me today.” Roxas offered. Without the ability to use the Keyblade, Roxas didn’t want Xion to get herself hurt. To his surprise, she shook her head.

“No chance. I may not be able to use a Keyblade, but I’m not staying on the sidelines. We’re partners. I can easily soften them up for you with my magic.” Xion smiled, and Roxas felt silly for doubting her.

“Let’s go then.” Roxas led the way, and she followed. Admittedly, Roxas was excited about this arrangement as it gave him the chance to spend more time with Xion. Ever since he woke up, he didn’t get much of a chance to see her.

When they encountered the first batch of heartless, Roxas’s worries were put to rest as he watched her cast magic. While he knew how to use magic somewhat (his newfound skill in light magic notwithstanding), Xion’s magic seemed more potent than his.  _ Maybe she got good at it during the last few weeks? _

They entered a hall, and he took the lead. They heard someone talking and knew that they had to be sneaky now. Stealthily approaching the room’s main chamber entrance, Roxas leaned around the corner and had no idea what he was seeing.

“What’s wrong?” she whispered. Her voice was right in his ear, and he nearly jumped from how close she was suddenly.

“It’s a walking-talking candelabra,” he said, unable to hide the surprise in his voice.

“Huh?”

Roxas repeated himself, and Xion had to suppress her laughter. “Yeah, right?”

“I’m serious, look!” he hissed, and Xion stepped past him and briefly leaned around the corner.

“Wow!” she said loudly and quickly smacked a hand over her mouth when she realized her mistake.

“Qu'est-ce que c'est?” the candelabra said and though Roxas had no clue what that meant, he could make a guess. He knew that Organization rules prevented him and Xion from interacting with the people of the worlds they traveled to and knew that he had to act fast.

On a whim, he grabbed Xion by the waist and pulled her towards him. On instinct, he firmly yet gently swung her towards the nearby wall so that they could hide by using the nearby archway. He used his free hand to support her head so that she wouldn’t crash into the wall. They both looked towards the opening and waited, listening.

After a few moments, “ Sacré bleu , I must be hearing things now.”

The candelabra moved away from their hiding spot to their relief, and they took a moment to catch their breath. When Roxas turned his head to check on Xion, he realized just how close she was. He got a good look at her face up close, and a word came to mind, cute. 

While he had undoubtedly spent an unusual amount of time staring at her during the time that they spent together, this was the first time that he got to see her this close. He noticed that her eyes looked very blue (with a shade of purple) and noticed how her hair frames her face. He also found himself oddly entranced by her lips. This all felt very confusing for Roxas. That was also when he realized that her arms were wrapped around him, and he suddenly felt very hot (though he didn’t know what that meant.)

“Thanks for the quick-thinking, Roxas.” Xion stammered. Despite the red shade that was creeping on her face, she looked at him so intently that Roxas didn’t want to break his gaze with her.

“No problem. Did you hear about what he said about the ‘master’?” Xion quickly nodded.

“You think that’s the ‘Beast’ that they keep talking about?”

“I think so.” there was an awkward pause between the two before she asked, “Should we get back to collecting hearts?”

Roxas nodded, but he found himself unable to break his grip with Xion. “Ready?” 

Xion nodded, and they reluctantly let go of each other. Xion hurried off ahead of him, and Roxas found himself picking up the pace to keep up with her.

The rest of the mission wasn’t as uneventful, and Roxas still found himself occasionally sneaking glances at Xion. Sometimes he even caught her staring at him. Although he couldn’t explain it, he wanted their little embrace to last a little longer. 

However, he couldn’t manage to work up the nerve to get close to her again like that. Even on the clock tower, they both avoided/tried to sneak in peeks at each other. Axel, for whatever reason, found all of this very amusing. Their other missions were relatively simple as it was just simple heart gathering with the occasional dark glob removal. 

Despite how worried Roxas may be about Xion and her inability to summon the Keyblade, he liked being able to spend time with her like this. They don’t get enough time together at the Clock Tower. If only Axel could join them on their missions, then it would be the perfect setup.

///

Xion woke up and stretched her arms out. Once again, she tried to summon her Keyblade, but to no avail. 

“Why won’t you come back?” she said to no one.

She felt bad that Roxas had to do so much extra work because of her. The worst part is that she didn’t even know what she could do to make it up to him. Even if it’s just buying him a ton of ice cream, she’ll do something for him.

She smiled when she saw him, and he greeted her with a smile of his own. Ever since that first visit to Beast’s Castle, she felt strange about him. That little moment they shared hiding together felt oddly pleasant. It also confirmed her belief that Roxas just felt warm to her in general. She couldn’t find a good excuse though to try and cling on to him just to see if she could feel that warmth again. 

She’s not sure how long she can keep up the act, though. Yesterday had been a close call when she could not summon her Keyblade when Demyx asked her to show him it. The others looked on in differing levels of curiosity. It was Saïx’s gaze though that had pierced right through her as she could see the thoughts brewing in his head.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Roxas, suddenly shouting.

“What do you mean we have to go on separate missions!?!?”

Saïx was unmoved, “While I must admit that I’m incredibly satisfied with your performance these past few weeks, this situation requires two different Keyblade wielders. We’ve had sightings of a powerful heartless in both Agrabah and Beast’s Castle. I don’t need to remind you that stronger Heartless results in stronger hearts that are collected. That won’t be a problem would it?”

Xion knew that he was asking her specifically, and Roxas defensively moved one of his arms in front of her.  _ One day I’ll protect you, Roxas. _

“I wouldn’t recommend it.” Axel was sitting on the couch, nursing an injury of some kind. “That thing in Agrabah is pretty nasty. I say you should send the two of them to deal with that first.” 

“Why should I do that?” asked Saïx, “I think Roxas here is plenty competent for the task at hand.” Xion knew that was meant to be a backhanded statement to her.

“Considering how bad that thing hurt me, I don’t think we can risk one of our Keyblade wielders getting hurt.” Axel made wincing noises, and she wondered if he was merely exaggerating just how injured he actually was.

Saïx irritably twitched, “Fine. For the record, I don’t approve of you coddling these two so much.” that earned a laugh from the nearby Xigbar. 

“As if! He just doesn’t want to break up the lovebirds.” Saïx glared at the sniper who merely smiled and went back to reading his magazine. What’s a lovebird? She wondered.

“Get going.” Saïx coldly said.

When they arrived in Agrabah, Xion couldn’t help but worry about Saïx. Noticing her hesitation, Roxas called out to her.

“Don’t let him get you down.” 

“Thanks, Roxas, but I’m just worried. Without the Keyblade, I’m nothing if I’m no use to the Organization.”

Roxas shook his head, “That’s not true, you’re still my friend. No Keyblade can change that. Now come on, let’s go find that Heartless” She is so lucky to have a friend like Roxas.

They traveled beyond the city until they came to some ruins. “This must be the place that was in Axel’s report,” Xion mentioned, and Roxas nodded in agreement.

“I wonder where it is?” He wondered. They didn’t have to wait very long as the ground began shaking around them. They both began to sink into the sand slightly. There was no way that they could properly fight like this! Xion had to think of something quickly.

“Quick Roxas, grab my hand!” Roxas reacted, and when he gripped it, Xion began to cast wind magic. While tricky to pull off, she hopes that she can let them sort of hover above the ground slightly to not sink into the sand.

From what she read, this thing is called an Antlion. Xion followed Roxas closely as he charged into the large mechanical-like Heartless as it moved through the sand. She was pleased to see that Roxas was adapting his technique to her magic. At least the Heartless was harmless enough right now as Roxas wailed on it. She was proved wrong in a few minutes.

The Heartless suddenly lurched upright as it emerged from the sand and was now floating like they were. Gusts of wind began to swirl around the Antlion as it plucked pieces of the ruins and threw them at the pair. Roxas began to parry the blocks and strike them back at the Antlion. Not wanting to be useless, Xion started to use Aero spells to drag the ruins around her. With a call to Roxas, they started to work in sync as they threw the Antlion’s attack back at it.

Things were going well up until the Antlion roared and reared back. Roxas recognized what it was going to do before Xion did, and he tackled her to the side as it fired a massive laser. Unfortunately, Roxas was unable to clear the blast fully and he was thrown to the side. Xion felt something build within her as she saw the injured Roxas settle on the ground.

It felt hot within her, and she felt new power grow within her. It wasn’t familiar like the Keyblade but something new altogether. Bringing her hands together, she felt herself become covered in the same resplendent aura that she saw Roxas exhibit back in front of the mansion. Throwing her hands down, a massive pillar of light struck the Antlion, and it fell onto the sand, immobile and injured.

She slumped to her knees as Roxas got back onto his feet and looked at her in amazement. “Roxas, quick!” he nodded and quickly went to finish off the Heartless. When the deed was done, Roxas hurried to her side, and she weakly smiled at him.

“Are you alright, Xion?” Roxas looked so worried about her but she was more concerned about him.

“I’m fine. What about you? You shouldn’t be so reckless, Roxas.”

“I don’t want to see you get hurt,” Roxas interjected.

“But I’m the reason why you got hurt.” 

Roxas shook his head, “Friends are supposed to look out for each other. Besides, you were amazing with that light magic. That was cool.”

Xion flexed her hand, “I don’t know how I did it. When I saw you get hurt, I just sort of snapped. If only I got back the Keyblade.”

Roxas gripped her hand, “Maybe it’s a sign that you’re close?”

Xion smiled, “Maybe.” 

They both stared at each other, sharing a quiet moment. Briefly flashing back to that one time in the Beast’s Castle, Xion felt an odd impulsive desire swell within her.

“Oh, that was so AMAZING! A true performance, bravo!” a voice called out, and they looked around for the owner of said voice. A twinkle in the sky heralded a blue entity’s arrival and what looked like a flying carpet after a few seconds.

“Roxas, Xion! It’s so good to see you again!” Xion recognized the entity as the Genie who used to be in some lamp that she heard about at some point. The genie was vigorously shaking Roxas’s hand while another hand was somehow fanning the pair.

“Oh, Roxas, I’m gobsmacked. You and your lady friend suddenly took off without a word and left me hanging. But now you’re here! How’s it been?” Suddenly, Genie was before her and shook her hand, “I absolutely must thank you for taking care of that Heartless. It was absolutely mucking up the scenery.” She had to admit; he is entertaining.

“You look so tired, want me to give you a hand?” Genie extended his hand and made it larger for emphasis.

“I thought you don’t grant wishes anymore?” Roxas asked.

“Wishes? No, ixnay on that. A favor, though is different, I think I can give the heroes of Agrabah a freebie.” Suddenly the pair were on the carpet and were being ferried back to Agrabah. During the ride, Roxas both leaned on each other, and they ended up intertwining their hands with one another.

When the ride ended, the Genie winked at them. “I’ll see you two lovebirds around then!” He then vanished, but not before adding, “Don’t be strangers now.” Lovebirds, there was that term again.

Later that night, she went to sleep, and she had an odd dream of a boy in red and a girl sitting on a pier on Destiny Islands. It was a nice dream.

///

“This is the last day that the two of you will be working together.” Saïx’s tone was firm, and Roxas knew that there was no convincing him. “Starting tomorrow, you two will be back on separate schedules. Understood?” They both nodded and went through the dark corridor.

Today’s mission was at the Beast’s Castle again. Xion began to consider the possibility that this may be her last day before everything comes crashing down. Despite all of the trouble these last few weeks have been, she’s enjoyed herself so much that she could care less about the Keyblade. 

Tugging on Roxas’s coat, she looked at him earnestly, “I just want to thank you for everything.”

Roxas smiled at her, “What’s that for?”

“If I don’t get my Keyblade back today, Saïx will probably turn me into a Dusk when he finds out the truth. I just want you to know that I’ve had a lot of fun being with you like this.”

Roxas paused for a moment before he grabbed her shoulders, his tone becoming very serious, “Let’s run away then.”

“Huh?” Xion was taken off guard by this.

“I’m serious. If we can’t get your Keyblade back, then let’s run away and be together. We can convince Axel to join us, and we can be together. Just the three of us.”

Xion began to think about the possibility of just being with Roxas, free of the Organization. It made her heart stir to imagine a life with Roxas. She didn’t give him an answer before he walked off, and she followed him. Suddenly he stopped, and she stopped too.

“What is it?” 

“I have an idea. Remember when you grabbed my Keyblade and used it against the Darkside?” Xion nodded, remembering that day. “What if you used my Keyblade again? Maybe it’ll jog your memory.”

“What will you use, Roxas?” Xion didn’t want to deprive her best friend of his only weapon.

Roxas confidently smiled, “I can improvise.” he suddenly produced a stick, and she burst out laughing. 

“Roxas, that’s a stick!” she attempted to collect herself.

“If it helps you out, I’ll do anything for you.” They both blushed and then moved on to do the mission.

Xion swung the Keyblade around effortlessly. It was almost like she never lost the ability to wield it in the first place. She was determined to make up for being such a burden these past few weeks, and she fought ferociously.

“So, how’s my Keyblade feel?” Roxas asked.

Xion thought about it for a moment, “It feels kind of warm actually. It almost feels like I’m holding your hand.” Roxas looked at her strangely, and she muttered, “Sorry…”

Having the Keyblade felt great; she felt so powerful now that she could adequately protect Roxas. Fortunately, Roxas was no slouch without the Keyblade, so she didn’t need to be too overprotective of him. They fought a horde of Heartless before they ended up outside the ballroom. Something told her that the target Heartless was behind that door, and she was ready to show Roxas just how strong she truly is.

Fighting the Bully Dog, Roxas found himself pushed back by the creature’s attacks, and she could hear him lament that he can’t help her properly. But Roxas is with her; this Keyblade is his strength; it’s her strength as well. She powered through and began to utilize light magic, as well as Roxas can. She caught him watching in awe, and it made her happy that she wasn’t a burden, even if for just a little bit.

After the Bully Dog was vanquished, Roxas quickly approached her. Xion handed him back the Keyblade, “Thank you, Roxas.”

He looked at her with hope in his eyes, “Did it work?”

Xion shrugged, hopeful that she can summon the Keyblade, “I don’t know, let me try again.” Holding out her hand, she began to feel that familiar power course through her, but it wasn’t enough.

_ What’s missing?  _ Suddenly an inspirational idea came to her as she realized what the missing link was.  _ When Roxas got hurt, I felt the light swell up within me. Every time he’s with me, I feel so strong. That’s it; you’re my strength, Roxas! _

Extending her hand towards him, she nervously asked, “Roxas...can I hold your hand?”

Nodding, Roxas slipped his hand into hers, and it felt right to her. Closing her eyes, Xion again tried to summon the Keyblade. Thinking about the happy times that she’s shared with Roxas over the past few weeks, she let that warmth fill her up. All of a sudden, she felt something settle into her hand, and she opened her eyes. To her surprise (and joy!), her Keyblade was back in her hand.

She couldn’t contain her excitement as she excitedly called out to him. In response, he slipped his other hand over hers, and she did the same as she happily bounced up and down. Xion tucked him along, still gripping his hand, “Come on, let’s show Axel.”

Axel could scarcely believe it either when they triumphantly showed off her returned Keyblade. “How can I ever thank you, Axel?” Xion was so excited that she would be safe from Saïx’s wrath. 

Axel smirked at her, “Buy me some ice cream, and we’ll call it even.” Xion nodded and giggled, running off, and to her surprise, Roxas followed her.

“Mind if I go with you?” Roxas sheepishly asked her.

“Not at all.” Xion led the way as they walked to the ice cream stand. “It is a shame, though.” Roxas looked at her, “I liked the idea of running off, just the two of us.”

Roxas smiled, “When we get our hearts, we’ll live together. Axel can come too.”

For some reason, Xion preferred the idea of it being just the two of them, even if Axel is one of her best friends. An odd feeling crossed her mind, though, she wants to hold his hand again. “Is it alright if I hold your hand again, Roxas?”

Without a word, Roxas smiled and slipped his hand into hers. She noticed that he was using the hand that had the brand on it, and she noticed that he was holding her brand hand. Her physical heart began to thump repeatedly as she held his hand. She felt warm, and she liked that feeling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The fun part about writing Roxas and Xion is that because they are parallels of Sora and Kairi in a sense, you can get away with them doing vague flirting stuff due to any inherent feelings that Sora and Kairi have for each other. They may not know much about hugs and kisses, but they know how to hold hands.


	3. What Am I Feeling?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roxas and Xion continue to grow closer to each other as they begin to feel certain things about each other. The pair try to juggle their daily lives and get to have a day off. Roxas seeing this as an opportunity to explore Twilight Town properly invites Xion to spend the day with him. Meanwhile, the gears begin to turn in the background as Riku and DiZ make themselves known.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we're back. Sorry for the unintentional hiatus, I work in retail and have been swamped by work to the point to where I felt like not doing anything.
> 
> Edit (12/08/2020): I decided to change the gift that Xion gives to him. It isn't a major change but it's one that I think is a little better.

_A boy and a girl were standing on opposite sides of a gap. The ground was coming apart and the two were clasping hands, trying to stay together._

_“I’ll come back to you, I promise!” the boy said._

_“I know you will!” the girl responded._

That was the last thing Xion saw before she woke up. For the past few nights, she had begun to have dreams about a strange boy in red who looked oddly familiar to her. Part of her wondered if that boy had something to do with the time before she was a nobody. The dreams that she liked were the ones where the boy in red was with a girl with red hair that looked like her. When she saw the two together, it reminded her of herself and Roxas.

Shaking off her dreams, she took a moment to raise her hand up and summoned her Keyblade. She couldn’t help but just keep staring at it, feeling it’s familiar and welcome weight rest in her hand. After the trio separated for the day after ice cream, Xion found herself just staring at her Keyblade with unfettered admiration. Xion couldn’t stop smiling at the fact that she could finally summon her Keyblade again, and it was all thanks to her friends.

Axel managed to arrange things so that she and Roxas could go on missions together and Roxas helped her get her Keyblade back. While she’s not sure if Roxas did anything in particular, she’s grateful that he was so willing to help her out. _I need to do something for him. Getting ice cream for him won’t cut it, maybe I can get him something nice, next time I’m in Twilight Town._

Admittedly, there was a part of her that was disappointed that they’d be working separately again. Despite the tension and nervousness that she felt (could she even feel such things?) about not being able to wield the Keyblade again, she really did enjoy being with Roxas. They had some fun adventures and it felt nice when they would just goof off on their missions. 

Not everything in the Organization had to be so serious. It felt nice for the two of them to sit back and just feel normal. That’s why she likes being on the clock tower so much, she feels like an actual person when she can just look over the town and enjoy her ice cream with her friend-no friends now.

Axel is a nice guy, he seems to regard her a little strangely sometimes, but he’s nice. He’s funny and he’s willing to answer most of the questions that both she and Roxas have. While the three of them aren’t always able to have ice cream together, she appreciates that they’re all willing to try and meet up so often.

Dismissing her Keyblade, Xion sat up and got out of bed. Doing some light stretches, she looked at the moon in the sky. Xion wondered if the moon looked the same in different worlds. From what Axel told her, “No, the moon at the castle is a lot more different from other moons.”

It does feel odd that she lives in a world where the sun doesn’t shine. To Xion, it messes with her that this world almost seems to be shrouded by perpetual night. It’s why she doesn’t hang around the castle so much during her free time, it messes with her perception of time as nothing seems to change.

While she knows that there is a whole city beneath the castle, it’s a desolate area. The one time that she went there had left her with a cold feeling. It certainly made for a harsh contrast to the warmth of Twilight Town and she hopes that when Kingdom Hearts is finally complete, the city will feel just as warm as Twilight Town. However such thoughts are for another day as she has a daily mission to get to. 

When she entered the Grey Room, she confidently strode towards where Demyx was sitting and called out.

“You said you wanted to see it, right, my Keyblade?” Xion asked with a smile on her face.

Demyx looked up from his Sitar, his interest piqued, “Yeah.”

With a little flourish, Xion summoned her Keyblade, “Ta-da!” the other members looked on with varying degrees of interest.

To her confusion, Demyx’s smile slackened, “Oh...it’s just like Roxas’s?”

Regardless, she kept smiling. _Why would that be a bad thing? It's just another sign that we’re meant to be good friends._

“Xion, today you’ll be with Axel.” Saïx told her as he looked at her coldly. Xion had to wonder if he figured what had happened. There isn’t a whole lot he could though now that she has her Keyblade back.

She turned to see Axel and Roxas looking at her. Waving her key around like a flag, she gave them a smile and she felt a slight tingle as the pair returned her smile. For some reason, seeing her friends smile like that gave her a warm feeling, she likes that feeling. Seeing Roxas happy makes her feel happy (as much as someone like her can feel happiness).

////

When Axel was told that he was supposed to observe Xion, he didn’t know what exactly he was looking for. His only piece of advice was to observe Xion’s fighting style and take notes on it. Following off of that wonderful direction, Axel concluded that Xion fought just like Roxas, albeit with some differences.

His immediate observation was that they are both aggressive when fighting (he wonders if it’s her trying to make up for not having the Keyblade for the past few weeks.) While Roxas favors his right hand, Xion prefers her left, with their stances being direct mirrors of each other. From what he’s seen, Roxas seems to be more skilled but Xion is more crafty with her techniques. They’re both decent with light magic but their other magic isn’t anything to scoff at (with some pride, Axel noticed that they are fairly adept at fire magic)

Axel watched as Xion skillfully slew heartless, while he softened them up, Xion was doing most of the heavy lifting. With a ‘poof’, the rest of the Heartless dissipated around them and the pair had a moment to relax. Now that Axel had a moment to think about it, he’s never really had a chance to talk to the other girl. In many ways, she’s just like Roxas in how they’re the only two members who have no real memory of their past lives.

“So you really have no clue about your past?” he said to her as they walked around the town.

Xion shook her head, “No.” He noticed that she was averting her gaze, was she not telling him something? However, he didn’t want to press her on the subject and was fine with talking about something else.

Axel saw that Xion was looking at some nearby birds and he smiled, “Something on your mind?”

The birds flew away and Xion broke out of what Axel assumed was a reverie, “Huh?”

“You were staring at those birds rather intently,” he stated.

Xion pursed her lips and thought to herself for a moment before speaking up, “What are lovebirds?”

Axel blinked in surprise, he had no clue where that came from, “Well...uh...they’re a kind of bird.”

Xion shook her head, “I figured that but what exactly are they? I heard Xigbar refer to me and Roxas as ‘lovebirds’.”

Axel smiled, “You shouldn’t put much stock into what that guy says. He says a lot of things to mess with people.” the fiery redhead doesn’t want to get into concepts such as love just yet. _That will only lead to more complicated explanations._

Xion smiled and they moved on.

As they fought more heartless, Axel continued to banter with her. “Look at you go!”

Xion confidently and efficiently cut down heartless, “I need to make up for the past few weeks, to show you guys that I’m not useless.”

Axel threw a chakram at a Heartless that was attempting to sneak up on Xion, “You don’t need to prove anything to us Xion.”

The other girl nodded but Axel could tell she wasn’t fully convinced. He let it slide, she obviously had some frustrations to work out because of the past few weeks. Axel only just hopes that she doesn’t overdo it.

“I just want to be as strong as Roxas. So that he doesn’t have to do all of the heavy lifting” she flatly said and Axel simply nodded. _You’re plenty strong as is already._

With the surrounding heartless vanquished, Axel beckoned Xion to follow him as they went to get ice cream. “Come on, I think you earned the-”

“-the icing on the cake?” Xion interrupted and Axel paused and stared at her with an amused smile.

“Yeah, exactly.”

While he wouldn’t know what exactly to tell Saïx when he submitted his report, he knows that Xion will be just fine.

///

_Notice: Day Off Today._

Roxas stared at the board in bewilderment as he attempted to figure out what exactly a “Day Off” is. When he asked Saïx about it, his superior answered in his usual curt manner.

“It means there are no assignments for today. Go do whatever you want, your normal schedule will resume tomorrow.”

“But why?” Roxas asked and Saix stared at him like he had suddenly grown extra arms.

“Because Lord Xemnas says so. While I don’t know why he always insists that this day in particular be a day off for everyone. Now go do whatever it is you do when you’re not on a mission.”

Roxas left the surly man and went to find Axel. Axel would know what he should do on a day off.

“Just do whatever you want.” was Axel’s answer. Roxas found him still in bed and now Xion had tagged along with him. 

“Well, you can’t just stay in bed all day.” Xion told the other man.

“Look when you’ve been with this group for as long as I have, you begin to yearn for days like these. Look, I’ll join you kids for ice cream at the usual time, I just need my beauty sleep.” Axel turned over, away from the duo and shut his eyes.

The pair left and began to walk down the hallway. It felt odd not having any missions for the day but he figured that he would manage.

“So do you have anything in mind?” Roxas asked and the other girl paused for a moment.

With a shrug, Xion said, “I was probably going to do some training, make sure that the Keyblade still works for me.”

Roxas looked confused, “For the whole day?” 

She shook her head, “Not the whole day, I mean we still need to get some ice cream later. You want to come with me?”

Not having anything else in mind, Roxas nodded and she led the way to where the Organization would conduct training exercises.

////

Roxas never came here that often in his free time. Sure he would go to hone his skills better but he never really considered making a day out of it. At first, the pair went through basic exercises together. They practiced swings, strikes, and practiced their evasive techniques. It lasted for a few minutes before they decided to move onto actual combat.

Xion asked if she could go first and Roxas nodded, he likes watching her move around (plus he was also curious about how far she’s come along since getting her Keyblade back.)

After Xion selected a training program, he watched as what he was told were projections of nobodies (but still very much a threat) came at her. He watched with wonderment as she deftly dodged strikes from Samurai and deflected shots from a Sniper in the distance. He had to stop himself from warning her about impending threats as he didn’t want to break her concentration. 

Such reservations were quashed though as he saw her slip around an Assassin with a quick reversal and then deliver an even faster reprisal. While he watched her with unfettered amazement he caught a flash out of the corner of his eye and to his shock, he saw Demyx in the next area over.

Never once had he seen the other man commit to any sort of regiment but he figured that everyone has to practice something. Water splashed around his arena as water spouts shot up from the ground. Water magic sort of interested Roxas and he began to wonder if he could try it himself (that would be a topic for another time though) but he focused back on Xion who looked radiant with her light magic.

A mechanical voice intoned that the exercise was over and Xion stepped out, noticeably catching her breath. 

“How did I do?” Xion breathed out as she attempted to steady herself.

Roxas gave her a thumbs up, a gesture that he learned from Axel that signifies, good, “Excellent.”

She smiled and then gestured with her Keyblade towards the arena, “Your turn.”

He nodded and then went into the arena as she set up the program (presumably the same one that she just did).

When the sound indicating that the exercise had begun blared out he readied himself. No matter what program you set, there would always be subtle variations between each one. That was what Xaldin had told him when the other man had first shown him the training area.

Rather than beginning with Samurais, several Dragoons crashed around him and Roxas had to quickly guard. With a flick of his hand, he cast an Aero spell to scoop up the Dragoons as he let himself be carried by the wind towards them.

Disposing of the Dragoons with a few quick slashes, he rolled away from an incoming Berserker and began to attack it. Quickly glancing to the side, he saw Xion watching him intently with a smile on her face. For some reason that made him feel like fighting harder to try and impress her.

His Keyblade began to glow with light as he repeatedly whacked the Berserker before finishing by sending out columns of light towards some Dusks that were approaching. Suddenly there was a Dancer that gripped him by the arm and hurled him away. Catching himself and landing on the ground, he jumped into the air and then spun towards the dancer like a saw blade.

To his surprise, the sound blared out and signaled that the exercise was over. As he took a moment to collect himself as he went to where Xion was waiting.

“How did I do?” he asked and Xion mimicked the thumbs up that he did earlier.

“Excellent.”

To his surprise he watched her enter the arena with him, “You feel like going for a round?” 

Roxas smiled, “A spar?”

Xion nodded, “I’m curious to see how well we stack up against each other.” 

He flashed her a challenging smirk, “Where did this come from?” he didn’t really want to spar with her out of concern that he may accidentally hurt her, but he doesn’t want to tell her no and disappoint her.

Xion matched his smirk with one of her own, “Just simple curiosity. I mean aren’t you a little interested in sparring with me? I’ve been watching you, you know.”

Admittedly, Roxas has been interested in training with her for some time now, but he doesn’t know how to approach her on the subject. Every time he thought about asking her to do something with him, just the two of them, his heart began to flutter and he found that he couldn’t speak properly.

Roxas nodded and readied himself as he watched Xion do the same. “Any rules?” Roxas asked and Xion thought for a few seconds before responding,

“No magic, just the Keyblade.” he agreed to her rules.

On some invisible and unknown indicator, the two began to charge as Roxas swung first and Xion blocked. Throwing his weapon to the side, Xion attempted to thrust and Roxas sidestepped it and readied himself as Xion began to strike repeatedly. While Roxas does have some dodging techniques where he zips around like light (and Xion does for that matter) neither wanted to really use their serious techniques.

When Xion caught up to him, their Keyblades were locked together again and they both pushed against each other. Roxas saw her serious yet playful expression and he smiled at her. In all sincere honesty, he’s impressed with how far she’s come with the Keyblade. If he’s not careful, she’ll surpass him easily.

Breaking off, he began to press the attack now as she stepped backward, attempting to put space between the two. He came at her from all directions and was careful not to overextend himself as he knows just how quickly she can counter. 

What followed next was a series of slashes, thrusts, and parries as Roxas and Xion managed to keep an even pace with each other. Roxas felt his heartbeat rapidly in his chest but he could see that Xion was panting as well. Surging forward, Roxas attacked with a basic three-hit combo. On the third attack, however, that was when Xion made her move.

She pulled off a reversal and was suddenly behind him, undeterred, he managed to slip around her reversal. They both began to keep slipping around each other as they both attempted to counter each other's counters and Roxas tried his best to not become dizzy as a result of their antics. After a minute, Roxas finally managed to catch her Keyblade in a decisive strike and sent it out of her hand and it clanged to the ground.

Diving for it, Xion attempted to reach for her Keyblade but Roxas dove as well towards it, stabbing her Keyblade’s handguard with his own and locked it in place. With a confident smirk, he stared at her, waiting for her to give up. Xion looked frustrated but then she had a devious grin on her face as light shone from where his Keyblade was. It didn’t occur to him that she could have dismissed her Keyblade and then resummon it back to her hand, he had never fought against anyone else who could wield a Keyblade until this moment. 

While he wouldn’t fall for that trick again, he knew the fight was over as the edge of her Keyblade gently rested under his chin and he felt it being picked up as Xion stood up. He took a moment to stare at Xion as he saw her smiling at him; beads of sweat were rolling down her face and they were both panting as her gaze locked him in place with an intensity that he hadn’t seen before. He couldn’t stop smiling as looking at her like this made his heartbeat rapidly (either from excitement or exhaustion, he can’t say) 

“We’ll call it a draw?” Roxas tried to manage a sheepish smile.

Xion smirked at him, “If it helps you sleep at night.”

They both paused for a beat before they both laughed.

“You’re really good you know. If I’m not careful, you’ll leave me in the dust.” Roxas smiled at her and it was Xion’s turn to be bashful.

“Oh please, that trick won’t work on you a second time. I know you’re better than me with the Keyblade.”

Roxas laid a hand on her shoulder, “Don’t sell yourself short, let’s go celebrate.” he retracted his hand.

Xion’s head perked up, “Icing on the cake?”

He shook his head, “I think it’s too early for that.”

She slightly frowned, “What do you have in mind?”

Suddenly, Roxas began to stammer, “I was wondering if...uh…” why did he find it so hard to ask a simple question.

Xion tilted her head to the side, “Yes?”

Roxas took a deep breath before speaking, “I was wondering if you’d like to go to Twilight Town, just the two of us? I’ve always wanted to actually see the town rather than just hide in the shadows all the time.” Why was the idea of just being alone with Xion causing his heart to beat so furiously?

“That sounds like a good idea, come on, let’s go!” Xion suddenly grabbed his hand and he found himself needing to pick up the pace in order to match her speed.

////

After a quick trip through the dark corridor, the pair found themselves in Twilight Town. From what Roxas could tell, the town looked different today. In the alleyway from where they covertly emerged, Roxas saw that there were flags strung between and across the buildings, the people also seemed to be in a very good mood and were gathered in a crowd.

“What’s going on here?”

Xion merely shrugged in response and the two went towards the commotion. Slightly pushing their way into the crowd they were treated to what obviously seemed to be a game of some kind.

On one side there was a boy with short spiky blonde hair, wearing shorts that were mostly green in a pattern that Roxas didn’t recognize, as well as a black shirt and a beige vest. The boy’s opponent (Roxas assumed) was a slightly older looking boy whose own hair was covered by a cap who had a blue shirt, dark pants, and a long white overcoat that had its sleeves cutoff. Contrasting their outfits was the older boy’s choice in boots as opposed to the spiky-haired boy's shoes. Both of them seemed to be about similar to Roxas and Xion (as much as he could tell.) and they were both wielding blue bats of some kind. From what Roxas could see, they were smacking a ball back and forth between each other.

The spiky-haired boy dove for the ball and hit it towards the other boy, who deftly reacted. With one simple spin, the other boy slammed the ball back at the boy who didn’t have enough time to react and the ball hit the ground as people began to clap. Noticing another boy who was short with spiky brown hair and accompanied by a girl with brown hair. The boy had blue pants (a kind of clothing that Roxas knew were known as jeans) and a white long-sleeved shirt. Wearing another shirt over the white one, it was a red tank top with “Dog Street” written on it. The girl had long brown hair that spilled around her neck in two distinct strands. She had beige shorts and an orange tank top. Not knowing who to ask, Roxas decided to ask the pair about this odd game.

The boy turned to regard them and he smiled, “You mean you don’t know about ‘Grandstander’?

Roxas shook his head but before he could respond the girl seemed to regard them curiously, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you around here before.”

Xion interjected, “We’re not from around here, though we do like coming here. My name is Xion and this is my friend Roxas.” Roxas didn’t see any harm in telling the stranger their names.

The other boy offered his hand, “My name is Pence, and this is my friend Olette.” the girl offered her hands to the both of them and they shook it. Pointing towards the spiky-haired boy who was picking himself up off the ground, Pence said “That’s our friend Hayner, shame he lost against that jerk.”

Xion pointed at the older boy who strode about confidently, basking in the cheers of the ground, “Who’s that guy?”

Olette rolled her eyes, “That’s Seifer, our town’s self-appointed “guardian”, though he’s more of an arrogant peacock if you ask me.”

Xion doesn’t know what a peacock is, but she smiled and nodded along to Olette’s statement. Regardless, she is intrigued by this game. 

Xion looked interested, “So how do you play?”

Pence smiled, “Normally ‘Grandstand’ is something that is done by one person but there is a variation where two people compete to see who can perform the most stylish techniques while also keeping the ball in the air.”

Roxas looked at Xion, who he could tell already had an answer for him. “Do you want to try?”

Xion smiled, “Sure.”

Olette pressed the pair forward as Hayner made his way back to his friends, seeing Roxas ahead of the group, he shoved the bat into Roxas’s hands and leaned in to whisper, “I don’t know who you are, but if you can knock that smug grin off his face then I’ll be really grateful.”

“So who's next?” The boy named Seifer called out to the crowd while his own group of friends watched in approval.

Seifer noticed that Roxas stood out from the crowd and pointed his bat towards him, “I don’t think I’ve seen you around here.”

It took Roxas a moment to realize that Seifer was addressing him and he nodded in acknowledgment.

“I’m Roxas.” he offered his hand like how Pence did but the other man scoffed, resting his bat casually over his shoulder.

“If there’s one thing you need to learn around here, then it’s that I’m the main man in this town.”

Roxas tilted his head in confusion, not knowing what he had done to provoke him. “Do you want to compete?”

“Like it’ll even be a competition. Seifer’s gonna cream you, ya know?” one of the people that Roxas assumed was one of Seifer’s friends called out.

“Decimation.” said the girl in the group. Oddly enough, the last person, a little person in an odd getup and a pointy hat said nothing, just silently staring.”

“Well, that’s not very nice.” Roxas said with a frown.

“You can back out now and still save face.” Seifer told him before continuing, “Maybe you’ll be ready in a decade.”

This Seifer person reminds him of Axel, but not nearly as entertaining or friendly. Roxas shook his head and settled into his usual Keyblade stance. While a foam bat and a Keyblade aren’t the same, he can make this work.

Turning to where the ball was being held by Hayner, Roxas locked eyes with Xion for a brief moment. With a brief smile and nod, Roxas focused back on the imminent game.

After the ball was tossed, Seifer lunged for it, starting the competition with a thrust, designed to immediately overwhelm Roxas. Deftly handling the bat, Roxas returned the ball with a casual swing. Seifer shuffled towards the ball and he returned it to Roxas.

“So you’re not just a wimp, after all, I’m going to enjoy this.” Seifer smiled and Roxas found that he was getting into the flow of the game.

The swings were evenly paced between the two as Roxas was trying to add little flourishes into his swings. For all of the other boys' taunts, Seifer was deft at being elegant with his swings. Fighting Heartless never really required stylishness aside from maneuvers that needed finesse so Roxas never thought about trying to be stylish. He could see though that it could make fighting a little bit more fun if he could find a way to efficiently add such flourishes into his swings. Especially if it results in getting Xion’s attention.

Risking the occasional glance, he could see just how intently focused Xion was on watching him. When he heard her praise and cheers it made him feel a little more motivated to be more stylish. At some point, Seifer leaped into the air and before he smashed the ball towards the ground he yelled, “Kneel loser!”

Roxas held his bat in a guard as he deflected the ball into the air. Taking a quick step back, he dashed forward and performed a front flip, smacking the ball during his motion towards Seifer to the awe of the crowd.

Unfortunately for the other boy, Seifer failed to catch the ball and uselessly watched it plop to the ground. While the other boy fumed and stormed off (accompanied by his group of friends), Roxas twirled his bat in his hand before resting it on his shoulder, facing the crowd. He had to admit, approval like this does feel nice. Out of all those cheering, Xion’s voice was the loudest, something that filled him with an odd sensation (he had heard it referred to once as pride). Before the crowd died down, Xion stepped forward, bat ready and the crowd fell to a dead silence.

The boy named Hayner called out, “Thank you for knocking him down a peg, uh Roxas was it?”

Roxas nodded but his attention was focused on Xion who obviously had a fire in her eye.

“You think you have one more round in you?” Her question was a rhetorical one, he knew he couldn’t back down, not with everyone watching. Though, while the crowd may be disappointed if he backed down, he doesn’t want to disappoint Xion even more by backing down.

Pence picked up the ball, thinking for a moment before he tossed the ball to Roxas who struck it with a basic horizontal slash. Xion responded with a backhand with her bat and Roxas had to block it, setting the ball up in the air. Normally Roxas would leap up with a mighty jump but he knew that he had to tone down his usual antics. Instead, he settled with spiking the ball when it was at a reasonable height. To his surprise, Xion’s reprise was a thrust that shot forward and Roxas easily deflected it.

Rather than smack the ball back to Roxas, Xion proceeded to smack the ball towards the wall and it bounced back to her bat. It took Roxas a moment to realize what she was doing but he found himself staring at her in awe as she proceeded to hit the ball back and forth in a steady rhythm. All of a sudden, she slammed the ball and sent it hurtling towards Roxas who barely managed to parry it.

For two minutes Roxas and Xion kept up a steady pace as the onlookers became more and more invested. Roxas could’ve sworn that Hayner, Pence, and Olette’s voices were the loudest of those cheering on the pair. The rhythm of their back and forth suddenly changed when Roxas slammed the ball with a two handed grip. To his surprise, Xion decided to leap towards the ball, she spun on one foot in a pirouette and smacked the ball into the air.

Not wanting to be outdone, Roxas quickly looked for an idea. While he couldn’t do a high jump he could improvise. He leaped onto the nearby railing and then launched himself off of it and then slammed the ball towards the ground. Caught up in her own antics, Xion didn’t have enough time to catch the ball and she watched as the ball hit the ground.

Applause erupted around the pair as they realized that they were suddenly at the center of attention. Roxas promptly realized that they could get in trouble with the Organization by drawing this much attention to themselves. Roxas grabbed Xion by the hand and pulled her away so that they could slip into the shadows, much to the confusion of the trio that they just met.

For a few minutes, the pair hid in a small quad that was unoccupied. Like in Beast’s Castle, the pair were pressed together against the wall. This time Xion was the one who was precariously straddling Roxas and he struggled to keep his heart rate in check (which was hard considering how beaming Xion’s smile was.)

“That was amazing!” She quietly praised him. “The look on that Seifer guy’s face was something else. I don’t think I’ve even seen Saïx get that mad.”

“I blew our cover.” Roxas said with some measure of concern.

“What cover?” Xion smiled, “It’s just the two of us on a day off. Besides, we’re even now.” Roxas had to admit that she was right. As far as anyone knew, they were just two regular kids spending the day together.

“Even?”

“You won the game and I won the spar.”

Roxas smirked, “Oh so now you’re claiming victory for that?”

Xion shrugged, “I figured that us being even would restore your pride.”

Something seemed off to Roxas, “Did you throw the match?”

Xion seemed genuinely confused, “Of course not. Like I said earlier, you’re better than me and I have a long way to go before we can call ourselves equals.”

Roxas shook his head, “I don’t believe that for a second, you’re amazing.”

Xion sweetly smiled, an action that made Roxas shiver “That’s sweet of you to say. I think we can stop hiding now.”

“Okay.” Roxas went to lead the way but Xion stopped him.

“Something wrong?”

Xion shook her head but he can tell that she looked nervous, “Is it alright if I hold your hand?”

Roxas nodded and gently slipped his hand into hers and squeezed it, “I don’t mind.” He likes how her hand feels in his.

As they walked around they saw and heard a commotion coming from the other square. The pair heard music and they saw people spinning around and moving in time with the song. While Roxas couldn’t identify what song it is, it sounded nice. Suddenly Xion spoke up,

“Oh, I know what this is. This is called dancing; do you remember that big room in the Beast’s Castle, the ballroom?”

Roxas nodded and Xion continued, “I read that people would do this thing called ‘dancing’ in rooms like that.”

He remembered just how grand that room looked and he assumed that it had to be important for some reason. It gave him an idea (one that gave him an odd feeling in his stomach) and he tugged Xion’s hand in the direction of the crowd.

“Do you want to dance?” Roxas asked, attempting to muster a smile. To his relief, he saw her smile.

“I don’t think I’d be a good partner.” Xion sheepishly offered and Roxas shook his head.

“I don’t know how to dance either, it’ll be a learning experience for both of us. We can just copy what the others are doing.” Xion nervously smiled and he could see that her face was turning red for some reason, but she nodded in agreement. He began to lead her into an open space in the mob and they began to try and move with the flow of the crowd.

At first, the pair were clumsy. Their arms were mostly flailing about with no meaning and they found that they were stepping on each other's toes (with many apologies to boot). Eventually, though, they began to gain some semblance about what dancing actually is. Rather than just trying to mimic the others they let their bodies just move in flow with the beat.

They took turns pulling each other as they spun around while they both laughed. Roxas would occasionally spin Xion around while she would occasionally pull him into an embrace as they stepped in turn. Any reservations Roxas may have had about being this close to his friend were set aside as he just focused on having fun. Something about the situation made Xion look radiant and he wanted this moment to go on for just a little bit longer.

After an indeterminate amount of time, the music began to slow down and they slowly spun about, matching the tempo of the music. During their slow dance, Roxas noticed that Xion was intently staring at him. Despite how nervous he felt, he didn’t shy away from her gaze and he felt like there was something that he should probably do at this moment. However, the music began to truly die out and the pair looked for a nice quiet area to just sit down for a few minutes.

Catching their breaths on a nearby bench, they had to keep their laughter in check as they let the adrenaline settle down. After two minutes, they finally began to speak.

“That was exciting.” Xion kept smiling and he found that he was smiling just as widely. Out of all of the times he’s thought about it, this is the moment where he truly wishes that he had a heart so that he could fully experience this newfound joy.

“Not bad for the first time dancing, huh?”

She giggled, “We’ll have to do that again someday. Maybe the next time we go to the Beast’s Castle, we can try and sneak one in.”

“That sounds like an idea.” While Roxas was glad that the dancing was a fun diversion, he had no clue as to what to do next. He turned to her and asked.

“Maybe we could just try walking around?” Was her answer, she paused and then donned a serious face, “Thank you, seriously.”

Now it was Roxas’s turn to have a serious expression, “What for?”

She gestured to the whole area, “For convincing me to come with you.”

“You don’t need to thank me, if anything I’m grateful that you came with me.”

“Why?”

He shrugged, “If I just came here alone, I’d probably just be lonely. It’s a shame that Axel didn’t come with us though.”

Xion leaned in, shooting him a conspiratorial look, “Next time we have a day off, we’ll force him to come with us. Even if we have to kidnap him.”

They paused for a moment before they both laughed, Roxas spoke first, “I’m not sure if we could even carry him, he’s way taller than us.”

She nodded, “He could probably lift each of us in one hand.”

There is something special about it just being the two of them Roxas had to admit. If nothing else, this will be a happy memory that the two will share for a long time. 

Roxas spoke up, “When we’re done with the Organization, let’s just spend more days like this. Come on let’s go explore some more.” He took her hand again and he led her back into the fair.

The thing that he immediately caught his eye as they wandered about was a stand and they were selling something called ‘Pretzels’ from what he could see. He never had one before and figured why not? While nobodies like himself don’t derive much enjoyment from food, he still wants to know what something tastes like.

For some reason, Xion seemed to be looking around and he found himself trying to see what grabbed her attention. Before he could figure out what she was looking at, she turned back to him. 

Noticing his gaze, she asked, “Yes?” For some reason, he always found her eyes strangely enchanting.

“I want to go get a pretzel, do you want one?” Xion nodded.

“I’ll get in line, do you want to wait here?” Again she nodded.

As he waited, he snuck glances at her as she tried to inconspicuously move towards a nearby stall. Before he could see where she was going though, he was called up to the stand. Ordering the pretzels, he had no clue where Xion went as when he briefly looked behind himself, she was nowhere to be seen. Paying the man for the pretzels, Roxas set off in the direction that he last saw her go in.

For a few minutes, he looked over the crowd, scanning the area for any hint of where his friend had gone. His answer came when he felt a light tap on his shoulder that nearly made him jump out of his skin. Quickly turning around, Xion was right behind him, smiling with her hands behind her back.

“Did I startle you?” Xion teased.

Roxas shook his head and changed the subject. “What do you have behind your back?”

Xion shifted in place and didn’t meet his gaze, “Nothing.”

“Show me.” Roxas insisted and Xion relaxed her shoulders. Holding her hands out, he saw that she indeed didn’t have anything. Roxas shrugged and placed a pretzel into her hands, she nodded in appreciation and they walked off to find a quiet place to eat. Eating in silence, Roxas took a moment to appreciate the moment. For once, he felt like a regular person and any concerns about the Organization fell away to the wayside. His immediate impression was that the pretzel was salty like sea-salt ice cream, but not as sweet.

Later when they were walking around the town, the pair were stopped by a man with a device that Roxas knew was called a camera.

“Do you want a picture taken with your friend, to mark the day?” the man asked and Roxas and Xion quickly nodded. They settled on a price and the pair huddled together as the man focused on them with the camera.

“Can you move a little closer together?” the cameraman motioned towards them. While Xion hesitated for a moment, Roxas wrapped an arm around her, bringing her closer and craning his head towards her. In return, Xion decided to wrap her arm around him, mimicking his craning motion and he felt her hair brush up against his skin. 

Xion felt oddly cold to him, but she still feels nice to hold. It wasn’t an unbearable cold, but rather a pleasant chill. The feeling reminds him of the slight breeze that he would sometimes feel on the clock tower. A familiar sensation that makes him feel relaxed; he wouldn’t mind holding her like this more often. Fighting off an odd sensation forming on his face, he looked towards the cameraman and the two smiled.

There was a quick flash, and then another. Waiting for a few seconds for the photos to develop, Roxas was about to hand over the munny when Xion swatted his hand away and gave the man her munny. They gave the man their thanks and they walked away, Roxas took a moment to ask her a question, but Xion cut him off,

“You paid for the pretzels, I can pay for the photos.” Her smile was a small one and she handed him the photo. “Thank you, I’ll remember this day for a long time.”

Roxas returned the smile and squeezed her hand, “When we get our hearts, we can run off together, we’ll get to have more days like this.”

Xion couldn’t help but tease him, “You still like the idea of running away together?”

He shrugged, “Why not, I figured that if we were always going to hang out together so much, then maybe we can just live together. I wouldn’t mind it.”

For some reason, Xion seemed to go silent with a small tint of red on her face, was it something he said?

Rather than press the situation, Roxas decided to change the subject, “Do you want to go get some ice cream?” Xion promptly nodded and led the way as they moved away from the noisy crowd.

////

Back in familiar territory, the two simply sat on the edge of the clock tower and prepared to eat their ice cream. Before he could unwrap the salty treat, Xion interrupted him with a “hey”

“What’s up?” Roxas inquired.

Shoving her hand into her pocket, Xion fished out a small piece of metal that was attached to a string of some kind. With a smile, Xion shoved it into his hand.

“Here!” she excitedly said, “I know it’s not much, but I got you something.”

Roxas was touched, “Oh, thank you Xion.” Before he put the necklace on, he took a moment to look at it. The string seemed to be thick enough to where it wouldn't snap easily but it didn't look bulky. The metal object was molded into an "X" that looked kind of similar to Roxas's own brand on his hand, yet different in its own way. Roxas liked how it looked and it fit comfortably around his neck.

“Why did you get me this?” Roxas tried to phrase it in a way that wouldn’t hurt her.

Xion smiled and shrugged, “Consider it a thank you, for helping me get my Keyblade back.”

Roxas returned the smile, “I like the gift but you didn’t need to get me anything, I helped you out because you’re my friend, simple as that.”

Xion shook her head and rested her hand on top of his, “You went above and beyond to help me out, I have to give you something.”

Time seemed to slow down for Roxas as he took in Xion’s features as she smiled at him so intently. He always found her nice to look at but something about this moment (combined with the way the sunset was framing her outline) made her seem more resplendent than usual. Like the time in Beast’s Castle, he found himself oddly drawn to her lips. Before he could act on any of these strange new impulses, a familiar voice called out, shattering the mutual reverie.

“Looks like I made it in time for ice cream!” Axel had arrived and he had his own ice cream.

Roxas fell deathly silent as he tried to comprehend a new feeling, Xion spoke up though,

“Got enough ‘beauty sleep’?” Xion asked and Axel nodded.

“You kids enjoy your day off?” the redhead asked and Xion nodded.

“Me and Roxas spent the day down in Twilight Town, they had a whole party going on.”

Roxas could’ve sworn that he heard the older man mutter something about a ‘date’ but he didn’t think anything of it.

“So do normal kids get to have lots of days off?” Roxas asked. 

Axel shook his head, “Not always. See most kids go to this thing called school where they spend most of the week learning all sorts of things and interacting with other kids. But at the end of the school year, they get the whole summer off to themselves for three months.”

“Three months!?!?” Roxas was flabbergasted. He had enough trouble figuring out what to do with one day off, he couldn’t imagine having three whole months off. “Doesn’t that seem like too much?”

Axel shrugged, “When your daily lives are this busy, all of the free time in the world never seems like enough.”

Roxas shook his head but he had to agree, “I think a week is all I would need, that seems like enough.”

Axel laughed, “When we can stop doing this whole ‘Kingdom Hearts’ nonsense, you’re going to yearn for those three months.”

Xion interjected, “I wish you came with us though.” For some reason, Roxas wanted to disagree with that but he didn’t want to voice it.

Axel put up a placating hand, “Next time we have a day off, I’ll go with you. We’ll do something together as a group.”

“What do you suggest?” Xion asked

“I say we go to the beach.” said Axel. The beach sounded nice to Roxas.

“Yeah, let’s all go to the beach together.” Roxas said and he turned back to his ice cream.

////

_Attention Everyone: Be On the Look Out for An Imposter on the loose._

Roxas observed the sheet of paper with a crudely drawn image that he figures is supposed to represent the ‘imposter’. Turning to Xigbar who was also studying the paper, he decided to ask a question, “So there’s an imposter among us?”

Xigbar laughed softly, “Not exactly, someones just going around and copying our style.”

“Do you think they want to join us?” Roxas asked.

Xigbar laughed louder at that, “As if. We don’t need any more people in our little motley crew.”

“So what are we going to do about it?” was Roxas’s next question.

Xigbar looked at him strangely, “What do you think? We locate him and then we neutralize him. This guy is obviously on to us, which means that he’s a witness who needs to be dealt with. Bad for business, you know?” It was how matter of fact Xigbar was about it that unsettled Roxas but he didn’t respond to the sniper’s query.

“Anyways, you’re with me ‘tiger’, we’re going on a hunting party for our little imposter.” Xigbar motioned for him to follow. 

“Where are we going?” Roxas asked, still unsure as to why an imposter would need to be ‘neutralized’.

“To Olympus Coliseum, some scouts reported odd activity that matches the guy we’re looking for.”

“What does this imposter look like?” At that, Xigbar paused for a moment.

Using his hand for scale, Xigbar held his hand above Roxas, “About this tall, lanky, and quiet.”

“He can’t be that quiet if we just found out about him.” Roxas countered.

Xigbar shrugged, “Maybe he decided to show himself on purpose, maybe he overplayed his hand, or maybe he even made a mistake. Either way, it doesn’t matter. Now come on, the trail’s getting cold and the faster we get done, the sooner you can go be with your little dove.” 

Roxas followed Xigbar through the portal, shaking his head at the sniper’s odd expressions.

////

When they arrived in Olympus, it didn’t take long for them to find the man who matched the description of the suspect (though he was anything but quiet, yet sounding oddly familiar.)

“I’ll keep him pinned! You engage him!” Xigbar called out when they were ready to spring their ambush. 

The ‘imposter’ turned at the sound of Xigbar’s voice and although Roxas couldn’t see the man’s face, his eyes were probably wide open. Dodging shots from Xigbar that were meant to distract instead of injure, the ‘imposter’ ran but Roxas pursued him. Hopefully, they could spare the ‘imposter’ as Roxas can’t even imagine how a guy like this would be a threat to Organization XIII.

When Roxas caught up to the other man, he summoned his Keyblade and swung it at the ‘imposter’. Bubbles formed around the ‘imposter’s’ hands and a familiar Sitar blocked the blow.

“Guys! Guys! It’s me Demyx!” By this point, Xigbar teleported to Roxas’s side and Roxas could see the sheer incredulity on the sniper’s face as he demanded answers.

Pulling down his hood, Demyx dismissed his Sitar and held his hands up in a placating motion, “I figured that if I came here, I could have a little me time, okay. Just please don’t tell Saïx.”

Xigbar looked about ready to smack Demyx with his weapon, but instead turned around and made his way back to the dark corridor, “Come on kid, we got a report to fill out.”

It wouldn’t be until a few days later when Roxas would actually learn about the ‘imposter’ running around.

////

Xion didn’t know what to make of it when Saïx came to visit her in her bedroom. At first, she flinched, but the blue-haired man regarded her as coldly as ever.

“Come with me.” he said, “Lord Xemnas has a personal assignment for you.”

Xion found herself in the meeting room where she found herself craning her head to see where Lord Xemnas sat atop his chair.

“Number XIV…” he addressed her in his deep voice, an action that caused her to straighten her posture.

“I have an urgent assignment for you. Number VII, if you would...”

Now Saïx looked down at her and she adjusted her gaze accordingly, “Our scouts have discerned the true location of the imposter that I’m sure you’ve heard of by now.”

Without waiting for an answer, Saïx continued, “We know that he is hiding out in the Beast’s Castle, your task is to lure him out and dispose of him. This is a critical assignment from Lord Xemnas himself, so failure will not be tolerated. Complete this mission and you will have earned our respect.” That last part struck a nerve with Xion but she bit back her remark.

Xion understood immediately, she wouldn’t let either Lord Xemnas or Saïx down and vanished.

////

When they were sure that Xion had left, Saïx looked up at Xemnas, “Are you sure this is wise Lord Xemnas? Surely Axel is good enough to eliminate one mere imposter?”

At this, Xemnas flashed a rare smile, “Ah...but aren’t we all imposters in a sense? You know as well as I do that we need to see how Number XIV will react to seeing one of the Keyblade wielder’s closest companions in order to test how efficiently Vexen’s designs worked out.”

Saïx found that he still disagreed, “Lord Xemnas, forgive my interruption but I must object. While I wouldn’t refer to the puppet as fully competent, it’s still a vital tool for collecting hearts. You would risk losing a Keyblade wielder just to sate your curiosity?”

Xemnas regarded him with an odd look and Saïx considered that he may have overstepped his boundaries, but Xemnas’s smile remained on his face, “If we lose Number XIV, we still have Number XIII, it will simply just take a little longer to complete Kingdom Hearts. We have already been nobodies for so long, what would a few extra weeks, or even months matter when we’ve already spent years working towards our goal?”

He paused, letting his words sink into Saïx before continuing, “Besides, should Number XIV fall to Riku’s hand, the grief and anger that it would cause Number XIII would further bind him to our cause.”

“I say he needs to be toughened up a little.” came from a familiar voice that Saïx had expected to have been listening in on the conversation. Suddenly appearing in his seat just below Xemnas, Xigbar appeared.

“The boy’s soft, he only has eyes for ‘poppet’, so maybe a little accident might motivate him to be more like the rest of us. One would think that having him hang around the ‘big-bad assassin’ would leave him a little rougher around the edges.” While Saïx couldn’t be sure, he assumed that Xigbar was also levying a barb at him as well as Axel.

Xemnas held out a hand to quiet any further outbursts, “Gentlemen, we’ll see what happens and react accordingly.”

////

Xion found herself trying to process an unknown feeling, it made her feel hot. Just the way Saïx said, “You will have earned our respect.” unsettled her. For all she does to help complete Kingdom Hearts and here she is, being treated like garbage. She’ll take down this imposter, and when she does, she’ll rub it in Saïx’s jerkface.

Walking around, she wondered as to where someone would hide but also if they were looking for a confrontation. She knew that the imposter was waiting for someone, why else would he keep revealing himself if it was very obvious that he’s being hunted. The thought occurred to her as well that she might be walking into a trap but it’s not like she has a choice to retreat.

Happening upon the long stone bridge, Xion felt like something was pulling her to this area. Out of nowhere, a dark shape descended upon her and she barely had time to move out of the way. 

Dressed in a familiar dark coat, Xion noted that the newcomer was a boy with long white hair, and wearing a blindfold on his face. She knew this had to be the imposter.

The imposter looked at her quizzically, “So you’re his nobody?”

“What are you talking about? I’m here to take you down.” Xion declared and she settled into her familiar stance. The boy adopted a stance where he pulled his sword back, a weapon that resembled the wing of a bat with a blue gem that looked like an eye, and he held his hand out in a beckoning gesture.

Xion’s head suddenly hurt as she now recognized that this boy was like one of the people that she would see in her dreams about the boy in red. That observation nearly cost her her life as he moved absurdly quicked. She could immediately tell that he had the power of darkness on his side. She zipped around and tried to counter him.

To her shock, he effortlessly parried her and riposted, throwing her on the defensive. Raising her Keyblade in the air, she tried to call down a thunder spell and he merely sidestepped it and launched an assault of his own. Quickly stepping back, she lost ground as the boy pursued her. When she thought that she had where she wanted him, he disappeared and was suddenly right behind her.

Before she could meet him, he swept out her legs and she fell to the ground, losing control of her Keyblade as it dropped away from her reach. The other boy calmly walked around and picked up her Keyblade, examining it,

“I knew it. This Keyblade is a sham.” he flatly said more to himself than to her and he casually tossed it back at her.

Happier memories flooded Xion’s mind as she was reminded of the hardships that she endured with Roxas to get it back. That one statement hurt her more than any barb that Saïx ever threw at her and she felt that rage build up within her.

“How dare you! What gives you the right to say that?!” she seethed. The other boy ignored her and he stooped to her level.

“Still, if you are his nobody, then I, unfortunately, need you to come with me.” He reached down to grab her hood and she saw that he lifted his blindfold to look at her face. She wondered why he would even wear that in the first place.

The one reaction that she did not expect on his face was one of shock, he dropped her hood and leaped back as she weakly made her way to her feet and resummoned the Keyblade to her hands.

“Who are you?” he asked but she wasn’t in the mood to answer his question so she asked him one of her own.

“Why are you dressed up like one of us?” She saw him actually smile and she didn’t know what to make of it. Her anger kept her up on her feet as she readied herself for another fight.

“Fair enough, I guess you could say that I am the biggest nobody of them all.” she had no idea what he meant by that, “By the way, you should ditch those guys, Organization XIII is bad news.” 

While admittedly she only truly gets along with Roxas and Axel, Organization XIII is all that she has and she won’t tolerate this jerk insulting her friends. Before she could charge though, he vanished.

Sinking to her knees, Xion let out a long, tired, anguished, and frustrated scream as she knew that she would have to face her superiors’ wrath.

////

“I always knew you were a defect.” Those were the only words that Saïx had to say to her as Xemnas watched. She had no clue what Xemnas’s mood was, he rarely ever gave any hint by expression as to what he’s thinking about.

“But I-” Xion began.

“Count yourself lucky that you can actually collect hearts, otherwise I’d turn you into a dusk myself. Now get out.”

Xion fled the chamber and she found herself curled up in bed. Her immediate instinct was to go find Roxas but she knows that she can’t ask him to help her out with all of her problems. Besides, if she went to go see him, that would only worry him even more. She’s caused enough trouble for her best friend. That imposter was just too powerful, and just what did he mean by “You’re his nobody?” There were so many questions on her mind that she couldn’t just go to sleep right away but she knew that she had to get right back to work tomorrow and so she attempted to sleep. Subjecting herself to more dreams of the boy in red and his silver-haired companion. 

In the morning, she attempted to avoid Roxas. It hurt her to cast him aside like that, but she knew that if he began to worry about her then he would neglect his own duties. She’s enough of a mistake on her own, she doesn’t need to drag Roxas down with her.

She couldn’t avoid him for long though and at some point, their missions intersected and she found herself face to face with him. His smile helped to cheer her up at least but she didn’t want to meet his gaze. When they were finished, he dragged her to the clock tower where she attempted to eat her ice cream.

The only thoughts running through her mind was about the silver-haired imposter who so efficiently beat her down. If it were Roxas, he wouldn’t have lost. If she were as strong as Roxas, she would’ve trounced the imposter. A stray thought whispered to her _What if his power were yours? He’s better than you, he’s more skilled. You only got the upper hand by tricking him._

The thought disturbed her as she never once considered Roxas to be a rival, nor someone to be better than. He’s her best friend, yet she can’t help but shake the insecurity. In a tone that she wished was a little softer, she told him “We may be special, but we’re not the same.”

As she left, she worried as to whether or not she hurt her relationship with Roxas, a thought that troubled her for a few days before they finally met again on the clock tower.

To her surprise, when she began to apologize, he cut her off, “No, I’m sorry. I obviously said something that upset you. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

Now she found herself tripping over her words to apologize to him, “I want to apologize to you. I shouldn’t have snapped at you. It’s just… do you remember that imposter?”

Roxas nodded and she continued, “I fought him the other day, and I lost. Saïx was so cruel to me and I-”

Roxas interrupted, “I’ll bash his head in…”

“No!” Xion interrupted, a little too loudly for her likely, “It’s just, that guy called my Keyblade a sham, it just bothered me so much that he could just dismiss it like that. I just couldn’t help but feel like your Keyblade is the real one like I’m the imposter compared to you.”

Roxas smiled at her, a gesture that made her feel warm, “I don’t care what anyone thinks, your Keyblade is plenty real to me.”

Xion looked down and found that she had unconsciously grabbed Roxas’s hand at some point and she let go, “Sorry-”

Roxas gripped her hand again, “I don’t mind, though I have to ask, why do you like holding my hand so much?”

It took Xion a moment to consider her answer, “Honestly, it just feels nice. I don’t know why but it makes me feel warm.”

At that, she felt a gentle squeeze and he nodded, gently tracing his other hand to where the “X” was on his hand. “I think it’s just another sign that we’re supposed to be good friends. You can tell me anything you want.”

Xion sighed and told him what she honestly felt, “It just feels like we're leagues apart in terms of wielding the Keyblade, like I’m always just behind you. I just didn’t want to bother you, to try and figure out where I’m going wrong.”

Roxas shook his head and she felt her arm intertwine with his, “You don’t have to prove anything, as far as I’m concerned, you’re perfect. You’re never a bother to me, so don’t feel bad about coming to me or Axel for help. We’re best friends.”

They sat in silence as Xion felt her heart calmly thump in her chest and she rested her head against his shoulder, she wondered if she would be able to one day actually experience these feelings as opposed to the imitations that she’s feeling.

////

Riku silently sat in the Twilight Town mansion as he kept pondering over that girl he met a few days ago. When Riku suggested that they try to entice the Organization into sending Roxas after him, Riku didn’t expect to encounter a girl who could also wield a Keyblade. From what he remembered of holding Sora’s Keyblade back in Hollow Bastion, the weight felt off in comparison, and yet this girl’s Keyblade seemed to be functionally identical to Sora’s. 

Sitting across from him was DiZ, who looked stern. “Why did you not apprehend Sora’s Nobody? That was the whole reason behind this risky endeavor.”

“That nobody I fought wasn’t Sora’s Nobody, it looked like Kairi.” was Riku’s response.

“And yet, Naminé says that a Nobody is causing issues in restoring Sora’s memories.” Suddenly realization struck DiZ and he cursed under his breath before addressing Riku, “I explicitly forbade Vexen from partaking in such experiments, and yet he decided to create his little pet homunculi after all.”

“What?” Riku was baffled as to what DiZ was saying.

The other man shook his head in apology, “What you saw on that bridge was one of Vexen’s Replicas. You may think it was your friend Kairi, but it wasn’t.” DiZ told Riku grimly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some things to note:  
> I like to imagine that the day off in 358 Days is chosen because Xemnas subconsciously remembers parts of his life as Terra and that day is his birthday. While he may not remember why that day is special, he knows that it's special nonetheless.  
> While I may have this tagged as "Slow Burn" this is moving rather quickly in terms of the romantic relationship between Roxas and Xion. Rest assured, things are going to go downhill for the couple real soon.  
> For next month, I'm going to try and have another chapter up for this story and a one-shot for my collection.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed this first chapter. Thankfully I have everything outlined so the big hurdle to writing is of course going to be sitting down and actually writing. I hope to get at least one chapter, preferably two chapters, posted a month so I hope that you'll stick around.


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